Western Conference Finals Game 2 Preview: What to Make of the Lakers

Luke Walton Kissing the Black Mamba Kobe Bryant. AP/Mark J. Terrill

I am a little confused right now.

I don’t know whether to be concerned that the Lakers fell to a 20-point deficit in the third quarter of game one of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the reigning champions San Antonio Spurs.

Or should I be confident that the Lakers can overcome any deficit like they did in game one to get the victory?

I’m hearing a lot of talk on the radio of how great the Lakers are, how horrible the Spurs are by giving up the lead and all that nonsense. I just don’t see it that way.

The Lakers are going to be in a lot of trouble if they don't play the full 48 minutes. They may have gotten away with it against a tired Spurs team that were forced to sleep on the team plane after their game seven victory against the New Orleans Hornets. But I can almost guarantee the Spurs will not do that again.

Defensively I saw Tony Parker cutting into the lane at will and Tim Duncan doing whatever he wanted to in the paint. Granted Manu Ginobli was off the whole game, but I did see him go to his left many times in the game.

Basically the Lakers need more plays like this:

in order to keep the Spurs down.

So with game two tonight at Staples, I'm a bit worried. I'm going to say the Spurs will win this game by five points. But it will serve as a wakeup call for the Lakers and they will still win in six.