2008 NBA Playoffs: Conference Finals, Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs, Game 2

Information about game 2 of the L.A. Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs series in the 2008 NBA Playoffs, with score, recap, pictures, stats, highlights, quotes and Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol performance.

2008 NBA Playoffs Conference Finals
Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs

Series Index:

Game 1: Lakers 89, Spurs 85 at Los Angeles   Game recap & pictures
Game 2: Lakers 101, Spurs 71 at Los Angeles Game recap & pictures
Game 3: Spurs103, Lakers 84 at San Antonio   Game recap & pictures
Game 4: Lakers 93, Spurs 91 at San Antonio   Game recap & pictures
Game 5: Lakers 100, Spurs 92 at Los Angeles   Game recap & pictures

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GAME 2: L.A. Lakers 101 - San Antonio Spurs 71

Lakers know how to demoralize a champion.

Leaders Points Rebounds Assists
Lakers 22: Bryant 12: Odom 5: Bryant
Spurs 13: Parker 16: Duncan 4: Parker
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Tot
LAL 21 25 28 27 101
SAS 16 21 20 14 71
click for Lakers 2008 Playoff pictures (LA Daily News), Conference Finals Game 2
Picture Gallery (LADN)

May 23, 2008 - STAPLES CENTER - LOS ANGELES. The Lakers saw the opportunity to demoralize the current NBA Champions and they didn't doubted. After the Spurs tied it at 37 late in the second quarter, the Lakers played to the best of their possibilities and crushed San Antonio for a big win 101-71 at Los Angeles to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference FInals.

This time Kobe Bryant came out shooting (8 points in the first quarter) like trying to prove Bruce Bowen he can't be stopped. Kobe ended with 22 points on 10-for 17 from the field and 5 assists in 36 minutes. Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher rebounded from poor performances in game 1 providing the team toughness in offense, strong defense and points. Odom ended with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks, Fisher added 11 points and 3 assists in 23 minutes. Jordan Farmar had a career playoff high 14 points and gave the team an emotional lift with an impressive block on Ime Udoka after chasing him in a fast break.

Pau Gasol added 10 points and 7 rebounds for the Lakers, who shot 54.9 percent to San Antonio’s 34.5 and outrebounded them 44-36.

The Lakers never trailed in this game 2 but it was a close game until a basket by Duncan tied the score at 37 with 2:14 to go in the first half. But with a layup from Gasol, a jump shot and a 3-pointer from Sasha "the machine" Vujacic and another layup from Fisher, the Lakers closed the half with a 9-0 run and a 46-37 lead.

And it only got worse for the Spurs in the third quarter. Like trying to erase the memories from the previous game's third period when San Antonio opened with a 14-2 run, Kobe scored 7 points in the first 2 minutes to led the way and with 9 minutes left the lead was as big as 16 points. Then came Manu Ginobili's first basket of the game. Popovich considered holding him out of this game because he's affected by an injured finger and a sprained ankle but he the Spurs can't allow themselves such a luxury.

Manu scored all his 7 points in the third but was ineffective again shooting 2-for-8 in 23 minutes after being 3-for-13 in the opener. After making him a starter in the previous 6 games, Popovich put him again in that strange situation of coming from the bench. A situation so ridiculous that a player of his caliber (All-NBA Third Team and with votes for the MVP) won the 6th Man of The Year this year. And Manu was not the only ineffective player for San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 16 rebounds but only 12 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Tony Parker had 13 points, missed 9 of 15 shots and had 4 turnovers.

The Lakers' ball movement was excellent, their defense impeccable and included 7 blocks, the bench contributed big and a fourth quarter that started 74-57 turned into an embarrassing blow out for the Champions who were outscored 14-3 and fell down to 88-60. Then it was just time to rest for the starters and the Lakers even had a chance go give Trevor Ariza, out since January 20 with a broken bone, some playing time.

Only 14 of the 222 teams to lose the first two games in a best-of-seven playoff series have come back to win, but the Lakers can't relax because that stat includes the Spurs in their matchup with the Hornets in this playoffs. The Spurs will try to recover themselves in games 3 and 4 that will be played in San Antonio, where they are 6-0 in the postseason and have won 20 of their last 22 games.

The Quotes

Phil Jackson (LAL Coach): "“The old adage is you just won the games on your home court, which is the important part.. . We know that. Now, nothing happens until we win on their court."

Manu Ginobili (Spurs): "I blame myself for these two losses, It should be 1-1. My mind is not fatigued. I need to step up. It will be different in Game 3."... "We shot horrible and we didn't play as good a defense as two days ago, so if you do the math, there were not many chances of winning."

Derek Fisher (Lakers): "We won our first two games against the Jazz and then lost two games up in Salt Lake City, these guys are the defending champions and there isn't any reason for us to think that their time is up and that they'll just step aside for us."

Lamar Odom (Lakers): "We can't get too high on ourselves. This is a team of champions"

Highlights

Los Angeles Lakers San Antonio Spurs
Leaders: Pts Reb Ast St Bl
Kobe Bryant 22 5 5 1 -
Lamar Odom 20 12 2 - 4
Jordan Farmar 14 2 - 1 1
Derek Fisher 11 1 3 1 -
Pau Gasol 10 7 3 2 -
Leaders: Pts Reb Ast St Bl
Tony Parker 13 - 4 1 -
Tim Duncan 12 16 4 1 1
Manu Ginobili 7 2 2 - -
Bruce Bowen 8 - 1 1 -
Michael Finley 8 1 - 1 -

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