Three of the Eastern Conference’s elite teams – Boston, Cleveland and Orlando – have already clinched playoff spots while the Western Conference was at zero prior to Thursday night’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center.  Apparently, the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant was mindful of that fact as he scored the last of his 23 points on a 3-pointer with 1:46 left, leading Los Angeles to the victory over San Antonio, making the Lakers the first Western Conference team to secure a playoff berth while wrapping up the Pacific Division.

The Spurs committed some atypical turnovers early in the first quarter and the Lakers benefited as they went into the second quarter with a 35-17 lead; San Antonio slowly chipped away at Los Angeles’ advantage as they went into their locker room down by 15 at halftime.  The Spurs would trail the Lakers by only 8 starting the fourth quarter, yet the Lakers couldn’t put them away.  A 3-pointer by Michael Finley cut Los Angeles’ lead to 81-78 with 10:30 left in the game.

Ths Spurs would continue to chip away at the Lakers’ lead, cutting it to 95-93 on a trey by Tony Parker with 2:18 remaining; unfortunately for San Antonio, Bryant drained a 3-pointer, effectively icing the game for the Lakers.  Bryant and Pau Gasol led all Los Angeles players with 23 points each – with Bryant grabbing 4 rebounds, dishing out 6 assists along with a block while Gasol grabbed 11 boards, dished out 3 assists along with a steal and 2 blocks; Lamar Odom notched a double-double as he scored 12 along with 10 rebounds.

San Antonio was led by Parker and Finley with 25 points apiece – with Parker grabbing 2 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists but committing 5 turnovers while Finley hit five 3-pointers, grabbed 3 rebounds along with an assist; Tim Duncan scored 16 with 11 rebounds, 5 assists and a block.  Los Angeles (52-13) plays again on Sunday when they return home to host the Dallas Mavericks while San Antonio (43-21) makes the short trip to Houston to take on the Rockets on Saturday night.