San Antonio Spurs vs L.A. Lakers: Comparing Matchups for Possible Playoff Clash
The San Antonio Spurs vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, Tim Duncan vs. Kobe Bryant, Gregg Popovich vs.Phil Jackson. They're all match-ups that have happened many times in the last decade creating a colorful history and heated rivalry.
The Spurs and Lakers have represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals ten of the last eleven seasons and have gone on to win the championship nine times.
The Spurs have all but secured the top seed in the West and should have an easier route to the Conference Finals than the Lakers, who have shown much improvement in recent weeks and just passed the Dallas Mavericks for second place.
Should the Spurs and Lakers meet up again to decide who will play for another NBA Championship, there will be several intriguing match-ups to watch for in the series. Here is a list of who holds the edge at each position and how it will effect the outcome of the series.
PG: Tony Parker vs Derek Fisher
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Tony Parker: 17.4 points, 6.5 assists
Derek Fisher: 6.7 points, 2.7 assists
This position is probably where Spurs hold biggest advantage. While Parker is having one of the best all-around seasons of his career, Fisher is on the decline. That doesn't mean he can be taken lightly, though.
Parker has an extreme advantage on offense with his quickness and soft shooting touch. Fisher stands no chance of staying on front him on the drive.
On the other hand, Parker may not be the best defender at his position, but he shouldn't have any trouble containing Fisher. Fisher can hit outside shots (41% 3pt) and is very good in the clutch, so the only thing Parker can't do is leave him wide open.
Advantage: Spurs
SG: Manu Ginobili vs Kobe Bryant
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Manu Ginobili: 17.8 points, 5.0 assists
Kobe Bryant: 24.8 points, 4.8 assists
This is probably the most intriguing match-up of the series. Both are their teams' leading scorers. On any given night they can provide an equally dangerous scoring game from all over the court. Neither one can be taken lightly, especially in the fourth quarter.
The main difference between the two is how they approach controversy. If Bryant is in a shooting slump he tends to try shoot his way out of it instead of passing to other teammates. If Ginobili is having issues, he's a lot more willing to get his teammates involved.
Both are good but not great defenders. They play the passing lanes well and get many fast break points. Even though Ginobili is a better team player, Kobe will win this match-up at least four times in a seven game series.
Advantage: Lakers
SF: Richard Jefferson vs Ron Artest
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Richard Jefferson: 11.3 points, 3.9 rebounds
Ron Artest: 8.2 points, 3.1 rebounds
This entire match-up is mainly offense vs defense. Jefferson is more of an offensive threat, but Artest is a much better defender.
Both players have a reputation for being somewhat inconsistent. Jefferson will go through stretches where he is unstoppable, and other times he'll hardly take a shot. The same can be said for Artest on both ends of the floor.
The main thing Artest can't do is let Jefferson get too many looks from behind the arc where he is hitting a career high of 43.3 percent. Odds are the two players will even each other out and won't have a huge impact on the series, but if one player is more likely to make a difference in a game it's Jefferson.
Advantage: Spurs
PF: Tim Duncan vs Pau Gasol
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Tim Duncan: 13.3 points, 9.1 rebounds
Pau Gasol: 18.7 points, 10.2 rebounds
Before jumping to conclusions by looking at the stats, remember that Gasol has played an average of 37.1 minutes per game, while Duncan has averaged only 28.7 minutes. That's a whopping 8.4 more minutes.
By adjusting Duncan's stats to equal Gasol's minutes, he averages 17.2 points and 11.8 rebounds proving it to be a much more even match-up.
While Gasol is younger and still somewhat in his prime, he has shown signs of fatigue with his heavy minutes and often get's washed out when Kobe takes over. Duncan, on the other hand, should be well rested and will probably average closer to 35 min per game in the playoffs.
Duncan still draws much defensive attention in the post and is excellent at finding the open man. When Gasol get's the ball, he is just as if not more dangerous on offense, but Duncan is more of a threat on defense.
Advantage: Even
C: Antonio McDyess vs Andrew Bynum
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Antonio McDyess: 5.1 points, 5.1 rebounds
Andrew Bynum: 11.6 points, 8.8 rebounds
This is probably the haziest match-up of all considering it could just as easily be DeJuan Blair and/or Lamar Odom starting at the center position. However, this is currently the lineup both teams are using so we'll stick with it.
McDyess was recently moved to the starting lineup probably for this exact match-up. As good of a defender and scorer as Blair is, he just has too much of a height disadvantage against the much taller, leaner Bynum.
McDyess doesn't score as much as Blair, but he's a better defender and match-up against the Lakers. The main thing he has to do is rebound and draw Bynum away from the basket to open up the paint.
Bynum is much younger and quicker than McDyess, and when healthy he's a much bigger threat on offense. He is also an excellent defender who can make life very difficult for the Spurs' interior offense.
Advantage: Lakers
Bench
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Spurs Bench: 35.1 points, 15.1 rebounds
Lakers Bench: 29.0 points, 13.6 rebounds
The bench will be a huge factor in deciding the winner of this potential series. The Spurs have relied on their bench a lot more this season than the Lakers, which already gives the Spurs an advantage.
The Spurs have many scoring threats off the bench inluding Geroge Hill (11.2 points), Gary Neal (9.4 points) and Matt Bonner (7.4 points) who is also the league's leader in three-point shooting at 51 percent.
The main scoring threats off the bench for the Lakers are Odom (14.4 points), Shannon Brown (9.1 points) and often injured Matt Barnes (7.0 points).
Should Blair and Odom come off the bench, the Lakers definitely have a height and rebounding edge that the Spurs will have to look out for. However the Spurs' offense off the bench should be quite a handful for the Lakers' defense.
The Spurs also have a much more efficient bench than the Lakers (39.2 compared to 33.9), so if they can fill in adequately for the starters they should have a reliable edge.
Advantage: Spurs
Coaching: Greg Popovich vs Phil Jackson
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Two of the best to ever coach the game will clash once again should this meeting occur. Both Popovich and Jackson have different styles of coaching, and both have resulted in winning multiple championships.
Jackson is much more passive-aggressive than Pop. He likes to let his players resolve their own problems on the court and will rarely call a time-out just to yell at them. Pop, on the other hand, won't take squat from his players. One wrong move and it's the bench with an earful.
The Zen Master is an expert at using the triangle offense to perfection. He has said this is his final year as a coach, so his players will no doubt be playing their hearts out for him to get that twelfth championship.
Pop has been labeled as the best at drawing up plays out of timeouts and motivating his players during halftime. As far as Pop is concerned the Lakers are the champions until someone else dethrones them.
Both coaches have extreme respect for one another, and both teams will do everything to win for them.
Advantage: Even
Intangibles
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Both teams have a lot to play for in this series. Should they meet up, both will be fighting to return to the Finals. The Lakers would be looking for a second three-peat with Kobe on the team. It would also match his ring count with Michael Jordan (six).
The Spurs will be looking to regain respect following a semi-hiatus after winning it all in 2007. Tim Duncan will be looking to win his fifth ring to tie Kobe and pass Shaquille O'Neal for the most championships won by currently active players.
However, the most important and possibly decisive factor in this series is home court advantage: something the Spurs have all but secured. In this era, the Lakers have won a series against the Spurs without home-court (2004), but the Spurs have only beaten the Lakers (1999 and 2003) with it.
Most likely this series will go to six or seven games, and if that is the case the Spurs should carry the biggest advantage by playing the seventh game at home. It will be an exciting series for sure!
Advantage: Spurs
