2003-2004 NBA Season (1 Viewer)

[BrandonM]

Which Spurs were hurt when they played the second and third games in the season series?

 

[Chris Farmer]

Duncan and Parker were both still hurt. I don't remember if they sat the games out, but they were substantially slowed by injuries. Neither was playing at the top of their game until into January.

 

[Brandon_T]

Happy with the way the Pistons played overall, but cold have gone either way. I am sure tho that the Pacer die hards will say it was cuz Tinsley was out, but I am not sure that would have made a difference on this day. This game didn't really mean much to the Pacers, but mentally was a big win for the Pistons. I hope they meet in the finals.

Brandon

 

[Neil M]

I thought the Pistons played some pretty bad offense. Hamilton was really the only starter who had any impact offensively. The Pistons bench really carried the team and their defense was amazing. I stopped keeping track of the Pacers turnovers when it hit 18. Home court will give the Pacers an advantage over the Pistons if they should meet but I still don't think they match up against the Pistons anymore. It will be a good series for sure but I think the Pistons are going to win. It just seems that momentum is on their side right now.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Lakers down 3 to the Spurs as I type this, but given that Shaq has been a nonfactor for the most part, I'll take only being down 3 as in it could've been a lot worse. Factor in Kobe being cold from the field, and then I'll definitely take only down 3.

 

[Henry Carmona]

How about down by 11

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

How about down by 11

We've made up larger margins.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

While it was important for Detroit to finally beat Indiana for some confidence going into the playoffs, I wouldn't read too much into it. Not only were the Pacers missing Tinsley, but O'Neal was nowhere near 100%.

I hope neither team stumbles in the early rounds. A Detroit - Indiana conference finals would be very entertaining. With those two tough defenses, neither team may reach 90 points in the entire series.

 

[Henry Carmona]

I knew youd have something else to say Casey

 

[Seth Paxton]

You really don't know what you're talking about.

Well, back when the Kings took the temporary lead for best record I said that the Lakers would catch them and that the game with the Kings would likely decide it. Fans like Hunter disagreed, which is fine since we all have views on it, but the point is that it did happen.

Then I just got done saying that I think the Spurs are really the most dangerous team in the West and here they are today leading the Lakers in the 4th at this point in LA.

I also said I wasn't impressed when the Nets ran off that win streak, but then lots of people said that.

All I know is for a clueless guy I sure have been somewhat correct about what was about to happen in the NBA. Maybe no more than several people here, but enough to discredit the idea that I don't know what I'm talking about.

 

[Henry Carmona]

YES YES YES

 

[Jan H]

Great win for the Spurs, they played a phenomenal game. I sincerely hope the Lakers and Spurs meet in the WC Finals, it'll be one for the ages.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Lakers 11 game winning streak is over.

Its tough to look for the positives in something like this but as I watched this game a couple of things did come to mind.

Firstly, they didn't quit when they were down double digits late in the game, which is something that L.A. does a little too much for my liking during regular season contests.
Second, listening to these commentators talk about how L.A. could run the table the rest of the season never really set well with me. I'm of the opinion that from time to time a bad loss is the best thing that can happen to a team, not that this was a terrible loss, but the Lakers or any of the elite could use a loss from time to time that reminds them that they are not so far better than the rest of the league that they can take games off. Please note, that I don't think the Lakers didn't care about this game, that's not what I'm saying, but sometimes a reminder is needed to keep the egos from crushing the team due to overinflatedness.
Would I have loved it if L.A. had run the table to end the season, absolutely. But, they're in a fight for the top sead, for home court in various rounds, and I want them to realize that they're in a fight.

This is also true of Indiana losing to Detroit today. Not that this would've happened, but if Indiana had won this game, there is a risk that they could take Detroit lightly in the playoffs. The good coaches try to guard against this, but they can't be inside everyone's head, so being reminded that yes in fact a team can beat you isn't necessarily a bad thing. No, I'm not just saying this because it was my team that got beat today, I genuinely believe or rather I fear facing a team that we've dominated all season because to dominate leads to a risk of taking lightly.

 

[RossTerry]

great win by the spurs

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I don't want my last post to sound like I'm not giving the Spurs credit, so I'll go out of my way to give them some love. Parker was the hot hand today, there was nothing L.A. could do to stop him unfortunately for us Laker fans. Kevin Willis also played a big part in this victory, and he's even older than Karl Malone. The Spurs wanted the win today, and in some respects they needed it. I didn't agree with Al Michaels during the game though when he said that the Spurs had to win to show the Lakers that they could play at this level. Well, maybe some people feel that way but not me, if L.A. had won today I doubt I'd be saying to myself "Gee, you know the Spurs really suck, I wonder how they won those 2 NBA titles or are even a top 4 sead in the West." Its not like they're the Clippers or something, and they will be a tough out in the playoffs.

In some other NBA news, Boston going down today means that enough teams in the East have clinched sub .500 records that we will have at least 1 in the playoffs. Whereas in the West you've got battles for the top spot in the West between 4 or 5 teams and the battle for number 8 between 3 teams or so...meanwhile Houston is kind of locked in to the seven spot.

 

[george kaplan]

That was pathetic. Not so much a Spurs victory as a Laker loss. The Lakers (as they all too often do) beat themselves. I'd love to believe that Phil told them in the locker room:

"Go out and don't put in a maximal effort. See if you can beat these guys by playing half-assed."

Followed by:

"OK, see? If you play like that in the playoffs against these guys, like you did last year, you will lose. Yes, you're better than them. But not so much better that you can afford to put in less than full effort against them. They're going to go all out against you, you need to do so against them, or else they are going to beat you."

I pray that it was a lesson and the lesson was learned. But probably they just played half-assed, and didn't learn their lesson, and will continue to play half-assed. But if they do, then this is going to end up being one disappointing season. :frowning:

 

[Jan H]

OK, now that I've paid my respects, the 'arrogant Laker fan' is beginning to emerge. For some reason, I can't imagine that the Spurs will consistently shoot (both FT's and the floor)as well as they did today. They played great defense (but they always do). Also, today the refs.....er, umm, 'let 'em play.'

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Well, I do have to kind of well...lets just say that Jan summed up my thoughts on the officiating quite nicely.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Off of that and on to the big Sunday showdowns.

Well, the Kings got a big road win. Not to downplay the effort, but the Rockets are falling apart themselves and I was thinking that before the Kings game even. But sometimes that's just the trick to get your team back on track and you still have to take advantage of the moment.

Next week is still the real test, as if anyone didn't know that by now.


Pacers/Pistons - now that was defense. As I just mentioned in the post before this, you see that great defense is more about never yielding a bit of space and the Pistons are even better than Indy in that regard. Even before a guy would catch the ball a Piston was already bumping and crowding him, and that creates bad attempts and TOs.

Of course the game really had almost no meaning to Indy and I fully expected the loss, or at least wasn't shocked by it. I think if Indy wins that game it really puts the Pistons in a tough mental position going into the playoffs. No home court, 0-4 even with Sheed, etc. Other than that advantage there was little to gain.

3 things stood out to me - JO is still not quite full health and it showed in his shooting, not just the defense because his FTs also suffered.

Jamal Tinsley really helps make the offense go. No surprise there I guess, but I think Anderson and Anthony give people a false sense of security in the PG position. They have their spots but Jamal is better at stirring the pot.

Rip will KILL Reggie in the post-season. The mismatch there is dramatic. I think everything else is pretty balanced except that matchup. As a Pacer fan I really would like to see Bender back and Harrington showing more consistency.


If that was the East Finals preview then we should be in for a classic showdown ala Celtics/Pistons, Knicks/Heat (classic or disgusting, whatever ).


Spurs are tough, which is what I was saying. There's more than one "NBA champ, now playing better post-injuries". You can say what you want, but the Lakers needed and wanted this game against the Spurs, period.

Kobe 9-26, the name is Bowen. Bruce Bowen. Example: Kobe hits a big 3 near the end to match Parker, but it took a screen out at the 3 pt line to get the open look.

I also think the Fisher/Parker matchup was a disaster for LA. Seems like you'd rather have Payton on Parker than on Ginobili, though both are pretty dangerous.

If there was any question about Malone/Payton being the real heart behind this Laker team, I think Karl's leap across the court for the attempted steal late in the game said it all. He didn't make the play but the effort was insane.


T'Wolves got the huge win over the Griz. Of course Memphis has been rather weak on the road but I think they have been playing better lately away from home. Wolves were sort of being swept aside with the Kings as they both stumbled, but Minny has sort of recovered already a bit. They are still in a strong position. After all, they are sitting there tied for the best record in the West and a certain #2 seed it would seem, although the Spurs will push them down the stretch.

Minny has road games against the Kings and Griz and could easily lose both of those games. Lakers/Kings will lose one more game for sure. Spurs could very easily win out now with no serious competition left (road to LAC and PORT only, home to PORT, SEA, DEN).

Lakers also have little else besides the Kings game. West returns to LA with the Griz but as I said they aren't a great road team, good but not great. At worst you expect the Lakers to lose 2 more games, at best they could also win out.

Kings are also light except for 2 serious home games against the Lakers and T'Wolves. They effectively have home court advantage in the race for home court advantage...err, yeah, that's right.

So despite the skid you have to like the Kings chances to pull it together at the last second. We all knew the Lakers were about to run into a more favorable schedule which would boost them. But now they still have to answer the toughest question yet.

You can say home court doesn't matter, but what does it mean if your team can't win on the road to secure home court? It means you have to turn around and do what you just couldn't do to avoid having to do it again...errr, yeah, that's right too.


BTW, let's just say that the Spurs do win out and Minny goes 2-2 with losses at Memphis and Sacramento. Spurs win the division because they went 2-2 against Minny and would have the better conference record.

So basically nothing is solved in the West at this point but the teams in the mix will basically get to play amongst each other to settle it, which you have to love.


Oh, the falling Rockets. Well they have 4 road games, 1 of which is against Utah fighting for their own playoff spot. The others aren't really tough, although Seattle and GSt aren't pushovers on the road for a team like Houston that is off and on. Then they have to host Dallas and Denver, 2 other teams fighting for spots in the same area.

Houston could be in more trouble than they realize at this point. Utah, Denver and Portland could all still catch them.


Boston could still lose several games, but after losses to MIL and GS you have to wonder if the Cavs have anything left to take advantage of Boston's losses. Instead we have the Indy/Boston upset rematch starting to look likely, or a classic Indy/NY setup. Either way it's a series with more history than any other for the Pacers in the playoffs.

I think most people are pulling for a NY/NJ first round matchup, which would seem to be a pretty cool thing. You have to wonder though if the Knicks won't have more people at their games than the Nets will.

Miami is one game out of a first round home court advantage. I still can't get over that. Personally I think it's going to happen after their road wins against ATL, CHI and playing DET tough in Detroit. NO and MIL are watching the wheels come off.

Even watching them its hard to pinpoint exactly why its working so much better now than it was. They just have a lot of nice role players, and Wade has turned out to be a heckava rookie. That situation reminds me of the Utah one, especially with Arroyo.

 

[Jan H]

Well-summed-up, Seth. Pacers/Pistons is looking like a great playoff matchup. The Lakers need to find a way to neutralize Parker and to not let that geriatric Willis (!?) do any damage. Should be fun. The 2nd season will be upon us soon.