Back at it vs. the best in the west: Spurs at Lakers Preview

Showtime: 7:30pm PT

Plot: The Lakers will be missing Jordan Farmar tonight, who strained his groin in practice on Monday, as well as Kobe Bryant, who's newly done for the season. They'll also be without Jordan Hill and Nick Young, both sidelined with knee injuries and potentially won't be ready until this weekend. In their places with be Xavier Henry, Kent Bazemore, Kendall Marshall and Ryan Kelly, each in their first season of extended NBA burn. Their opponents? Only the best team in the Western Conference. One that's on a 10 game winning streak.

At what point do we just admit that this just isn't a fair fight?

Because that's what this was last Friday in San Antonio. The Spurs simply outclassed the Lakers in a 34-point blowout, destroying the team in almost every conceivable way. To make matters worse, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili played just 43 minutes combined in the rout, with the supporting players doing the bulk of the damage. There's really no use in recapping this any further: it was like watching the varsity baseball team play the first grade teeball squad. It was horrible.

And now... the sequel! The Lakers try to mobilize tonight with even less help than on Friday, as Jordan Farmar will not be available for the next two weeks with a groin strain. The former Bruin has been a bright spot for the Lakers through this dark part of a lost season, providing an offensive spark off the bench and helping the team's young players coordinate into some semblance of a coordinating scoring unit.

Oddly enough, the Lakers may have Steve Nash tonight, as the team will be down to 11 guys and without a real second string point guard (... again). We'll know later today whether or not he'll actually suit up or not.

Just another day in a comically tragic season for LA.

--MAMBINO

--Follow this author @TheGreatMambino