Score: LAL 54 SA 50
Alright welcome in to the halftime post of the Lakers' matchup with the defending champion Spurs where the Lakers lead by 4 heading into the locker room.
The Positives
Nick Young, 15 points, 5-6 beyond the arc. Aside from that lone miss, "wow" is all I can say from Swaggy P. That's what he does best and there's a reason why he comes off the bench. Keep in mind, the Spurs defense is solid defending the 3 point line and Byron Scott doesn't want the Lakers to live and die by the 3, but Young was almost hitting everything from all cylinders. It didn't matter how good the Spurs played D on him, he could've hit deep within half court if he wanted to.
Jeremy Lin, 12 points, 5-7 shooting. In the starting lineup, Lin has been up and down. Putting him on the bench, the last few minutes, it created some confidence for him. So far, Lin has been aggressive penetrating the hoop, what he usually when he's at his best, especially against this good Spurs defense. 5-7 shooting, 2-2 from the arc, 5 assists, Lin is playing a solid game off the bench.
The Negatives
Closing out. This is probably the only negative I pinpoint throughout the whole game. The Lakers have done a good job defensively, generating 9 turnovers from the Spurs and grabbing 15 defensive rebounds, but they need to do a better job closing out. For example Boozer is late whenever Diaw gets the ball and that leaves him wide open for a three, luckily Diaw missed some of those open shots from beyond the arc.
Bottom Line
Like I said, the Lakers are playing inspired. The last time they played the Spurs, straight up got their @$$es handed to them in LA. The Lakers need to keep up with this formula: get the Spurs to not play Spurs basketball (turnovers) and the bench needs to keep it up because the starting lineup Scott put out there cannot hold its own against this San Antonio team. Kobe is 19 points away from surpassing MJ, will he do it in the 2nd half? Let's see what happens.
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