Lakers-Spurs: Who's the Team of the Decade?

The Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs will renew their rivalry when they meet in the playoffs for the first time in four years.

This time there will be more on the line than just a spot in the NBA Finals. The winner of this series will be crowned "Team of the Decade".

San Antonio's been more consistent than Los Angeles, but they've never repeated, and at the end of the day, it's all about rings. Each has won three titles in the 2000s, with the Lakers having one more appearance in the Finals than the Spurs.

This could very well be the last hurrah for the Spurs. Eventually Father Time catches up to everybody, and Tim Duncan's finally showing some signs of slowing down. He hasn't been as dominant as usual this postseason, although he's still the rock of that team, and their best player. 

The Lakers appear to be just getting started on the way to many runs at a championship with this current squad.

They've got the best player in the game in his prime, and he's only 29. Every other player on that team is younger than Kobe, except for Derek Fisher, who is 33.

If LA wins it all this year, it's gonna be awfully tough for anybody to dethrone them in the coming three to five seasons, especially since Andrew Bynum isn't even in the mix for this year's run.

It's tough not to pick the Spurs until somebody defeats them, but I just can't see them beating the Lakers four times in seven games. LA has so many weapons and they can really put the clamps down defensively when they need to.

The biggest problem for the Spurs is obviously going to be Kobe Bryant. That hack Bruce Bowen was always overrated in his defense of Kobe, and he's lost a step now. Manu Ginobili and Ime Udoka are solid, but they can't slow down No. 24. Expect a big series from Mamba.

Lamar Odom is a matchup problem for San Antonio too. Duncan's not going to chase him around on the perimeter while he's slashing and driving, and Fabricio Oberto definitely can't check him. Bank on Odom having a big series too.

Tony Parker is a better player than Derek Fisher, but he won't dominate Fisher. This will be the hardest series for Parker, as Fisher will play him tougher than anybody he's faced so far.

Fisher's been money in the playoffs again this year, so you can count on him hitting some more big shots in this showdown (anybody remember '01 when he went 21-28 from three against San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals that year? How about .4, does that number mean anything to you?).

The Tim Duncan/Pau Gasol matchup will be the key for the Spurs if they are to prevail in this series. Duncan cannot struggle on the road against LA, and historically Gasol has played well against him.

If Duncan doesn't decisively outplay Gasol, there's no way the Spurs beat the Lakers.

Bench play will be a factor, as neither team's was particularly stellar in the conference semis. The Lakers have the more explosive bench, but only Sasha Vujacic has been reliable throughout the postseason (Luke Walton's been solid).

You never know what you're going to get out of the Spurs bench, especially with Ginobili in the starting lineup, but they do have a bunch of vets who won't shrink from the stage.

In the end, I see the Lakers winning in six, maybe five. They have too much firepower for San Antonio, and appear to be peaking at just the right time. Kobe is on a mission to get ring number four and begin a new dynasty.

I say he gets it done with this team.