SPURS MEET THE NEW-LOOK LAKERS
VS
San Antonio will have a first look at the Lakers, the team that eliminated them in the Western Semifinal playoff. But there will be no Shaq, who give trouble to Spurs frontline. There will be no Payton, who after struggle in first 2 game of the series, manage to recover and make life harder to Parker, And there will be no Fisher, the player shot the game winner with 0.4 sec of deciding game 5 of the series.
They lost Turkolou in free agency but get a combo guard in Brent Barry. Barry will come from the bench to replace both guard positions and a very good shooter than Hedo.
“They were a team on a roll, they win 2 straight games and their confidence is high. Our team came from a lost but we’ll try to bounce back,” said Coach Popovich.
Tim Duncan came from a 33 point and 12 rebounds performance against Sacramento but got a little support from his teammates especially from Parker who only chipped in 6 points in 1 of 7 shooting.
Lakers on the other hand, get a solid offensive game with 4 players averaging in double digits. Bryant leads the team with his 22.5 PPG while Odom had 19 PPG and had team-best in assist with 7 a game.
“This maybe the biggest test for us” said Coach Rudy T.
Tonight's Key Matchup:
Tony Parker vs. Damon Stoudamire
Both Parker and Stoudamire have a very sub-par start in this season. Parker struggle on his 1st game against the Kings and score only 6 in 1 of 7 shooting. Stoudamire maybe averaging 10 point but has only 3 assists in 2 games. A breakout game from either of the two will be a great news for his team. Let's see who get the better of this two.
Probable Starters:
Lakers(Season Stats)
C-Vlade Divac- (10.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG)
PF-Brian Grant- (7.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG)
SF-Lamar Odom- (19.0 PPG, 7.0 APG)
SG-Kobe Bryant- (22.5 PPG, 4.5 APG)
PG-Damon Stoudamire- (10.0 PPG, 1.5 APG)
Spurs (Season Stats)
C-Rasho Nesterovic- (8.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG)
PF-Tim Duncan- (33.0 PPG, 12 RPG)
SF-Bruce Bowen- (4.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG)
SG-Manu Ginobili- (13.0 PPG, 4.0 APG)
PG-Tony Parker- (15.4 PPG, 5.0 APG)