Lakers Hold Off Spurs 93-91, Take Commanding 3-1 Series Lead

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA PLAYOFFS

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The Los Angeles Lakers, in their game against the San Antonio Spurs, proved why they may be the class of the Western Conference this season; they held the?Spurs to 40% shooting from the floor, and as a result, Los Angeles held off San Antonio 93-91 at AT&T Center.? Los Angeles, with the win, take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference series finals.

The Lakers would get hot early, taking a 22-8 lead in the first quarter; however, San Antonio would outscore Los Angeles 15-6 to narrow the gap to 28-23 going into the second quarter.? The second period would find the Lakers in foul trouble and the Spurs would benefit as they would go 17-for-17 at the charity stripe in the first half.? Tim Duncan’s jumper tied the game at 45 with 2:10 remaining in the half; after Los Angeles’ Luke Walton missed a free throw and a chance for a 3-point play with 23 seconds left in the half, the Lakers’ Vladimir Radmanovic chased down the ball and Kobe Bryant would convert the basket to give Los Angeles a 53-47 halftime advantage.

Tied at 67 in the third quarter, Bryant would dunk the ball; another dunk by Bryant would give the Lakers a 73-70 lead before Sasha Vujacic would convert a rare 4-point play, giving Los Angeles a 77-70 lead with a quarter to go.? San Antonio would get to within 81-79 in the final period, but Los Angeles would score 7 straight points.? San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili drained a 3-pointer to bring them to within 4 points; after a miss by Bryant, the Spurs’ Tony Parker would score on a goaltending call on the Lakers’ Lamar Odom, bringing San Antonio to within 93-91 with 28 seconds left to play.? Bryant would miss a jumper and the Spurs would get one last possession with 2.1 seconds left on the clock; the Spurs’ Brent Barry missed a last-ditch 3-point attempt, which iced the game for the Lakers.

Los Angeles’ leading scorer was Bryant with 28 points, 10 rebounds, an assist and a steal while Odom scored 16 with 9 rebounds and 3 assists; Pau Gasol recorded a double-double, scoring 10 with 10 rebounds,?6 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.? San Antonio was led by Duncan with 29 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks while Parker and Barry scored 23 points each - with Parker grabbing 4 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists while Barry hit five 3-pointers, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out an assist and had 2 steals.? Los Angeles hopes to close out the series as they return home to host San Antonio on Thursday at 9:00 PM EST.

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