4. 2020 NBA CHAMP LA LAKERS v. 7. 2002 MW DIV CHAMP SA SPURS
Lakers: 52-19, 1st Pac Div, 11th Off/3rd Def
d. Blazers West 1st Rnd 4-1
d. Rockets West Semis 4-1
d. Nuggets West Finals 4-1
d. Heat West Finals 4-2
#52 overall seed
d. '74 Celtics (2-0, LeBron 2 PotG)
d. '08 Jazz (2-0 Davis/LeBron)
d. '71 Bucks (2-0 Davis/LeBron)
Coach: Frank Vogel, Asst Jason Kidd, Lionel Hollins
Starters:
C Dwight Howard 34 7.5 PPG 18.7 PER 5.4 WS .7
F Anthony Davis 26-Kentucky 26.1 27.4 11.1 5.4
F LeBron James 35 25.3 25.5 9.8 6.1 VORP
G Rajon Rondo 33-Kentucky 7.1 12.4 1.4 .2
G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 26-Georgia 9.3 11 3.7 .5
Rotation Reserves:
C Javale McGee 32-Nevada 6.6 19.4 4.7 1
F Kyle Kuzma 24-Utah 12.8 12.2 2 -.2
F Danny Green 32-UNC 8 10.8 3.4 1.1
G Alex Caruso 25-Texas A&M 5.5 10.8 2.3 .5
G Avery Bradley 29-Texas 8.6 8.9 1.5 -.2
Leaders: LeBron: 1st Assts, 1st Assts/Gm, 5th +/-, 3rd VORP, 1st Asst%, 2nd Trip Doub, 1st Team All NBA
Davis: 3rd Blocks, 3rd Blocks/Gm, 4th PER, 4th WS, 3rd WS/48, 4th Def Rtng, 5th Block %, 1st Team All NBA
Howard 5th Def Rtng, 3rd Off Reb %
The Covid Champs were just okay offensively, but had the third best defense in 2020; The King is 35, he and 26 year old Anthony Davis both cross 25 PER. Both were All Stars and Davis was All Defense first team; LeBron won the NBA Finals MVP. The Lakers have swept through the tournament.
Spurs: 58-24, 1st MW Div, 9th Off/2nd Def
d. Sonics West 1st Rnd 3-2
Lost Lakers West Semis 4-1
#109 overall seed
d. '08 Hornets (2-1 Duncan 2)
d. '79 Sonics (2-1 Duncan)
d. '06 Heat (2-0 Duncan)
Coach Gregg Popovich, Asst Mike Budenholzer
Starters
C David Robinson 36-Navy 12.2 PPG 20.3 PER 10.1 WS 3.4
F Tim Duncan 25-Wake 25.5 27 17.8 8VORP
F Malik Rose 27-Drexel 9.4 16.4 4.4 .3
G Terry Porter 38-Wisc Stev Pt 5.5 13.9 3.5 1.2
G Steve Smith 32-Mich St. 11.6 13.9 6.4 1.6
Rotation Reserves
C Danny Ferry 35-Duke 4.6 11.2 2.3 .5
F Bruce Bowen 30-Cal St Fullerton 7 8.2 1.9 .3
F Charles Smith 26-N Mexico 7.4 13.2 2 .8
G Tony Parker 19 9.2 11.7 3.8 .6
G Antonio Daniels 26-BGSU 9.2 13.4 5.9 1.3
Leaders Duncan 5th PPG, 1st Reb, 2nd Reb/Gm, 3rd Blocks, 4th Blocks/Gm, 2nd PER, 1st WS, 2nd WS/48, 2nd +/- 1st VORP, 2nd Def Rtng, 3rd Def Rtng, 1st Team All NBA
Smith: 1st 3 Pt%
Robinson: 5th Def +/-, 3rd Def Rtng
Rose: 4th Def Rtng
Time for another Spurs team as we finish region 13, 25 year old Duncan is one of the 2 best players in the league in 2002, 1st in VORP and Win Shares, 2nd in PER and WS/48. He won the MVP and was all Defense first team. The 36 year old Admiral also hits 20 PER and double digit WS. Duncan was an All Star; 30 year old Bruce Bowen was 2nd team all Defense. Duncan's been PotG in all 6 Spurs wins.
Matchup:
C Robinson (Spurs)
F Duncan (Spurs)
F LeBron (lakers)
G Porter (Spurs)
G Smith (Spurs)
Bench: Push
We get the Hall of Fame front court battle - 36 year old Robinson/25 year old Duncan v. 35 year old LeBron/26 year old Davis. Spurs are pretty clearly better everywhere else, but the Lakers have 20 years on them and are undefeated.
12 teams are in the Sweet 16. Heavily skews modern, as you can see.
'80 Lakers
'89 Lakers
'15 Spurs
'17 Spurs
'20 Bucks
'12 Heat
'13 Heat
'18 Warriors
'11 Thunder
'15 Rockets
'11 Bulls
'95 Sonics
The winner here will be the first organization to win 3 Regional Titles; if the Lakers win, that will give LeBron 3 Regional Titles, pulling him ahead of Duncan/Parker/Durant/Harden.
The Region 14 Final is next - also Spurs/Lakers.
The Region 15 Final is another Covid team, the '20 Clips, against who would be just the 2nd 90s team in the field, the '92 Cavs
And we will conclude with Region 16 - Dirk and the Mavs against the last chance the Celtics have to win a regional title.
Gm 1: LA; Staples: Announcers: Bill MacDonald/Mychal Thompson
1Qtr
9 Spurs 4 Lakers 2
Lakers KCP
Spurs Duncan, Duncan
6 Lakers 7 Spurs 7
Lakers Lebron(3) Davis
Spurs Duncan(3)
Region 13 is underway
3 Lakers 15 Spurs 14
Lakers Lebron, Rondo, Howard, Howard
Spurs Smith(3) Robinson, Duncan
1Score Spurs 21 Lakers 16
Lakers LeBron(1)
Spurs Duncan, Robinson(3) Daniels
Defensive battle here; Lakers were the third best defense in '20, the Spurs the second best in '02
2Qtr
9 Spurs 32 Lakers 24
Lakers Davis, Davis, McGee, LeBron
Spurs Daniels, CSmith, Robinson, Parker, Bowen(3)
6 Spurs 38 Lakers 33
Lakers Davis, Bradley(3) Bradley, LeBron
Spurs Duncan, Duncan, Duncan
Duncan's got 17; 4 Hall of Famers in the frontcourts are fighting it out in this series.
3 Spurs 47 Lakers 41
Lakers Bradley(3) Rondo(3) LeBron
Spurs Daniels, Robinson, Dunca, Porter(3)
HScore Lakers 51 Spurs 50
Lakers LeBron, LeBron, McGee, Davis, LeBron
Spurs Robinson(3)
LeBron's got 18, Duncan 19, Robinson 12, Davis 10
3Qtr
9 Lakers 56 Spurs 54
Lakers LeBron(3) Howard
Spurs Rose, SSmith
6 Lakers 66 Spurs 62
Lakers McGee, KCP, Caruso, Rondo, Davis
Spurs Parker(1) SSmith(3) Duncan, Robinson
LeBron and Duncan locked in this game one battle.
3 Lakers 74 Spurs 65
Lakers KCP, Bradley, Davis, Davis
Spurs Bowen(1) Parker
3Score Lakers 82 Spurs 74
Lakers Bradleym KCP, Davis, Howard(1)
Spurs Porter, Duncan, Smith, Parker(3)
AD now has 18 and LA leads by 8.
4Qtr
9 Lakers 89 Spurs 83
Lakers Rondo(3) Howard, Rondo
Spurs Rose, Rose, Porter(3) Smith
6 Lakers 96 Spurs 89
Lakers Davis, Caruso(3) LeBron
Spurs Robinson, Duncan, CSmith
Is LA about to take game one?
3 Lakers 102 Spurs 95
Lakers Davis, Lebron, LeBron
Spurs Porter(3) Rose, Duncan(1)
FScore Lakers 117 Spurs 107
Lakers KCP(3) Davis, Davis, Rondo, Davis, leBron, LeBron
Spurs Dunca, Duncan, Robinson, Smith, SSmith(3)
The Spurs never make that run - closest they get down the stretch is 6.
LeBron: 31 pts/11 assists/5 boards
Davis: 28 pts/11 boards/5 assists
Rondo: 14 pts/7 boards/5 assists
KCP: 12 pts
Howard: 9 pts/13 boards
Bradley: 12 pts
Duncan: 30 pts/9 boards
Robinson: 18 pts/12 boards
SSmith: 18 pts
Rose: 8 pts/10 boards
Porter: 11 pts/8 boards
Gm 2: San Antonio: Alamodome: Joel Meyers/Sean Elliott
1Qtr
9 Lakers 8 Spurs 5
Spurs Porter(3) Rose
Lakers LeBron(3) LeBron(3) Davis
6 Lakers 14 Spurs 9
Spurs Rose, Rose
Lakers Davis, Howard, LeBron
Lakers are looking to close.
3 Lakers 18 Spurs 18
Spurs Smith(3) Duncan, Rose, Porter
Lakers LeBron, KCP
1Score Spurs 24 Lakers 22
Spurs CSmith, Dunca, Robinson
Lakers McGee, LeBron
A dozen for the King.
2Qtr
9 Spurs 27 Lakers 27
Spurs Parker(3)
Lakers Davis, Caruso(3)
6 Spurs 32 Lakers 31
Spurs Rose(3) Duncan
Lakers McGee, Bradley
How about 11 for Malik Rose?
3 Spurs 37 Lakers 36
Spurs SSmith, Duncan(3)
Lakers LeBron, leBron, Caruso(1)
HScore Lakers 42 Spurs 39
Spurs Duncan
Lakers Davis, LeBron, Bradley
Defense dominating in this one; 18 for LeBron as the Lakers are a half from the Region 13 title.
3Qtr
9 Spurs 48 Lakers 46
Spurs Robinson, SSmith, SSmith, Robinson(1) Porter
Lakers Howard, Howard
6 Spurs 54 Lakers 51
Spurs Duncan, CSmith, Rose
Lakers KCP, Caruso(3)
Just 5 for Robinson today, Lakers really bottling him up - but if he gets going, that might force the showdown.
3 Spurs 61 Lakers 58
Spurs Duncan, Parker(3) Porter
Lakers McGee, LeBron(3) Howard
3Score Spurs 65 Lakers 65
Spurs Bowen, Rose
Lakers Davis, LeBron(3) Davis
LeBron has 24; we get a good game 2.
4Qtr
9 Lakers 71 Spurs 70
Spurs Parker, Daniels
Lakers LeBron, Davis, LeBron
6 Lakers 76 Spurs 74
Spurs Daniels, Parker
Lakers Bradley, Bradley(3)
5:41: LA: Avery Bradley has scored 7 straight LA pts
5:31: SA: The Admiral dunk.
5:08: LA: Alex Caruso from the wing.
4:58: SA: Tony Parker 10 footer.
4:51: LA: Anthony Davis fadeaway. 82-78
4:11: SA: Duncan, post moves.
3:37: SA: Duncan hits a 6 footer and we are tied.
2:31: LA: Anthony Davis from outside the paint.
2:18: SA: Malik Rose thunders home a dunk.
1:40: LA: Howard's fouled hard - makes 1 and it's a 1 pt Laker game.
:57: SA: Terry Porter in traffic gives the Spurs the lead.
:50: LA: Anthony Davis goes off glass.
:39: SA: Malik Rose 15 footer. 88-87 Spurs
'
LeBron misses.
Duncan misses.
5 seconds left. Spurs by 1. Lakers call time. They'll get the ball at halfcourt.
LeBron? Davis? Who takes it?
It's Anthony Davis - he's on the wing - he fires -
GOOOOOOD!!!! GOOOOOOOD!!! GOOOOOOD!!!! GOOOOD!!!
Anthony Davis hits a triple at the buzzer to end the series!! LA takes Region 13!!
Final: Lakers 90 Spurs 88
That's 3 - the Laker organization becomes the first to win 3 Regional Titles and they're about to shoot for a 4th.
Davis: 23 pts/8 boards/5 assists/Buzzer Beater-Player of the Game
LeBron: 28 pts/12 boards/6 assists
Howard: 9 pts/11 boards
Bradley: 11 pts
All Region
C Kareem ('71 Bucks-4)
F Duncan ('02 Spurs-6)
F LeBron ('20 Lakers-5)-MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
G Wade ('06 Heat-2)
G Smith ('02 Spurs)
