The San Antonio Spurs , still smarting from blowing a big lead and losing to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday in Game-1 of the Western Conference Finals will again lock horns with the Lakers Friday night at Staples Arena in Los Angeles with hopes of evening things up. The Spurs have to be kicking themselves for letting Game 1 get away from them after holding an eight-point lead at the half and limiting Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant to just two points.
The second half was a completely different story however as the Lakers youngsters jumpstarted the offense in the third quarter to cut the lead to seven after three quarters of play. Kobe took over late and the Lakers outscored the Spurs 24-13 in the final quarter to pull out the 89-85 home victory. San Antonio cashed their backers tickets as 7.5-point road underdogs, and the combined score of 174 fell comfortably under the closing ‘total’ of 195.
With the win, the Lakers are now 3-2 SU against their Western Conference rivals this season, but the Spurs hold a decisive advantage ATS winning four of the five match-ups overall.
These teams have combined to win seven of the last nine championships, with the Spurs prevailing in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 and the Lakers doing so from 2000-02. So, the NBA's most dominant teams of the past decade meet again, with the winner taking a giant step toward another possible championship.
The Lakers opened up 6.5-point home favorites with the ‘total’ set at 193.5 at Bodog (Bodoglife.com) for the second game of this series.
Point-Spreads.com Pick: Spurs +6 ½ ATS
