It’s our conference

Whilst the pretenders to the throne battled it out in the East, the proven best of the West clashed in San Antonio. Between them the Lakers and the Spurs have won the Western Conference 11 out of the last 12 years. Both rosters aren’t getting any younger, and a lot has been made of that fact this season. We will know whether the criticism of LA has been fair, and whether they have the legs to be champions again in the next six days. The game in San Antonio was the first of four tough games they face this week on the road. The Lakers play the Hawks, Heat and Mavericks after leaving the AT&T Center in Texas tonight.

Spurs had scares over Tony Parker and Tim Duncan but both are healthy and their team stats haven’t shown too many signs of fatigue. They’ve won 22 straight at home, and they welcomed a Lakers side that had won their last six since the All-Star break. Coach Phil Jackson confirmed Derek Fisher would start over an hour before the game, as Fisher has been carrying an elbow injury. Matt Barnes was confirmed as available just before game time.

San Antonio Starting Five: Jefferson, Parker, Duncan, Ginobili and Blair.

Los Angeles Starting Five: Artest, Gasol, Bynum, Bryant and Fisher.

The Spurs got in to the paint early posting points up close, and Parker was involved from the off. But the Lakers started to pull away as early as midway through the first quarter when a nice three from Odum gave them a nine point lead. The teams then traded threes as Artest followed up from Lamar Odum on the Lakers next possession, and Bonner got three back for the Spurs.  The Lakers opened up a fifteen point lead with a midas touch offence as everything found the net. And everyone wanted a piece of the action as Brown came straight off the LA bench to sink one from distance, as Duncan and Parker were kept quiet. With the Spurs shooting less than 30% from the field and the Lakers doubling that percentage, LA had a 21 point lead after the first 12 with a score of 34-13. The teams were more or less on a par in the paint with the Lakers posting 12 points to the San Antonio’s 10.

LA came out in the second firing from distance again with a little bit of a care free attitude, but they had the cushion to pile on the points. And after Gary Neal netted a three, Matt Barnes returning from injury responded in kind for the Lakers. It was seriously impressive stuff from LA as they opened up a 27 point lead. The Spurs looked for a way to claw back some momentum and were scrapping for everything on the boards. The Spurs were getting some joy as the Lakers took their eye off defensive duties at times and San Antonio piled up the offensive rebounds. But Jackson’s men weren’t too open for too long, and they started to tighten up as the half came to an end, and had extended their lead to 28 points when the break came.

As we started the third it was gonna be big for the Spurs who needed to dominate the quarter. But Andrew Bynum continued the impressive form he had shown in the first 24 and ended the third with 15 rebounds. George Hill did his best to try and eat in to that Laker lead, but they kept on coming and at one stage the visitors established a 32 point lead in the game. It was the largest margin dropped on the Spurs all season. And with 29 the margin at the end of the quarter the Lakers had the luxury of being able to rest a few legs with the upcoming road games in mind. The Lakers had seriously dented San Antionio’s scoring average.

Maybe that was the plan for the Lakers to conserve their legs. Go hard for three and take it down a notch or two in the last. But everything going right up to that point wouldn’t have been factored in to Jackson’s thinking. Whatever the plan, they were sending a strong signal to the Spurs as to whose conference this was in 2011. As the lead came down to 20 the Lakers still had some of their starting five on the floor with two minutes left. It’s as if Phil was testing his side even if the opposition weren’t.

Nobody on the San Antonio roster posted over 15 points, as the Lakers dominated on Sunday night. The cushion came down to 16 as we reached zero on the clock, with the Lakers winning 99-83. Bryant ended with 26 points (7 reb, 5ast), with George Hill the best of San Antonio on the night with 15 points (7reb, 4ast). The winning streak at the AT&T for the home side ends at 22, and the Lakers are off to Atlanta with 4 out of 4 on the road still on the table.