The defending world champion San Antonio Spurs attempt to earn a trip back to the NBA Finals, as they visit the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Western Conference finals series tonight at the Staples Center.
This is the 11th time these teams have met in the postseason. San Antonio is 3-7 versus the Lakers in the playoffs. The Spurs defeated LA in the 1995, 1999 and 2003 semifinals.
The Lakers knocked off San Antonio in the first round of the 1986 and 1988 postseason, 1982, 1983, 2002, 2004 semis and the 2001 West finals.
During the regular season, the teams split four contests. Both clubs won a pair of games at home.
Game 2 of the set is scheduled for Friday in LA.
The third-seeded Spurs, who swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in last year's NBA Finals, have captured four world championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007) in the last nine years. They are 4-5 in conference finals since joining the NBA in the 1976-77 campaign.
San Antonio is 6-0 at home and 2-4 on the road in this year's playoffs. The Spurs defeated the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns in five contests in round one and survived a seven-game series with No. 2 New Orleans in the semis.
In Game 7 against the Hornets, Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and hit all six of his free throws in the final minute, as the Spurs held on for a 91-82 victory at New Orleans Arena. It was the first time in franchise history that a team has come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a playoff series.
NBA Sixth Man of the Year Ginobili is averaging 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists in the postseason, while point guard Tony Parker, who was the MVP of the 2007 NBA Finals, leads the Spurs in scoring (23.7 ppg) and assists (6.3 apg). Parker is shooting 50.5 percent from the field, including an impressive 46.2 percent from beyond the arc.
All-Star forward Tim Duncan has continued his stellar play for the Spurs in the playoffs. The Wake Forest product has posted 19.3 points and a club-high 13.3 rebounds per game.
Duncan, Ginobili and Parker have received plenty of help from their supporting cast of role players. Bruce Bowen and Ime Udoka have made timely shots and have been tenacious on defense, while veteran big man Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto have been solid in the middle. Swingman Michael Finley is averaging 7.1 points and is shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range.
Gregg Popovich, who has guided the Spurs to four championships during his tenure in San Antonio and was named the 2002-2003 NBA Coach of the Year, always gets the most out of his team, especially in the postseason. He is an impressive 100-55 in the playoffs.
The Lakers, who captured the Pacific Division crown during the regular season, had no problem winning the opening round of the playoffs. They swept Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and the eighth-seeded Nuggets, 4-0. In the semis, Los Angeles needed six games to eliminate Carlos Boozer and the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz.
NBA MVP Kobe Bryant has brought his best to this year's playoffs. The All-Star guard leads the Lakers in scoring (33.3 ppg) and assists (6.8 apg). He has also grabbed 6.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 49.5 percent from the field.
Pau Gasol, who was acquired in a big trade from the Memphis Grizzlies on February 1, has been everything the Lakers had hoped he would be and more. The seven-foot Spaniard is averaging 20.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists in the postseason. He is shooting 56.8 percent from the floor and has been the low-post scorer that Lakers have been missing.
Veteran guard Derek Fisher, versatile forward Lamar Odom, Vladimir Radmanovic, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton have all done their part in the postseason. Fisher has drained big threes throughout the postseason and is shooting an unbelievable 58.6 percent (17-for-29) from beyond the arc, while Odom has collected 15.6 points and a team-high 10.7 rebounds per game.
Head coach Phil Jackson knows how to win in the playoffs. Jackson has won nine championship rings as a coach. He led the Lakers to three titles in his first four years in LA, and guided the Chicago Bulls to six championships. He is an incredible 187-79 in the postseason.
The Lakers have returned to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2004. They defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in six games, 4-2, that year. LA has won this round four straight times.
The last time the Lakers lost in the conference finals was in 1998, as they were swept, 4-0, by the Jazz.
LA is 5-0 at home and 3-2 on the road in the 2008 playoffs.
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