Game 1 starts tonight at 8:00 on TNT.

I love everything about this series. Reminds me of the 6-8 years ago without the Big Fella. I think this will be the series we thought we were getting in Round 1 of Spurs/Suns after Game 1. Duncan should have his was, and Kobe will too. It's gonna come down to players like Walton, Vujacic, Fisher, Udoka, Finley, Bowen, Oberto.

Horry showed signs of life every now and then, but he's clearly running on fumes at this point. The Spurs are gonna need to play defense like they did in Game 7 to steal one of the first two games on the road.

In terms of coaching matchups, I like Pops. I think he's the best game coach out there right now. I love the numerous defensive shifts thrown at Paul every couple minutes in that game. I think Paul will be more a nightmare matchup then Kobe will be to them.

This series is where Kobe earns his MVP status. It's a show-me series, the first one I think hes legitimately had since Shaq left.

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This series will go at least 6.

Lakers in 7

Im going with the Spurs in 6 right now, but I wont be surprised if Im wrong. Dont be surprised if Joey Crawford is officiating a potential Game 7 in LA.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
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I'm taking the Lakers in 6

I think if they keep the pace up the Spurs won't be able to keep up

I'm also predicting at least one Bowen-Kobe altercation resulting in a near brawl

My only hope is this is a leniently officiated series. Both teams are experienced and can be pretty phsyical. They know whats at stake. Let em play.

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Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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Swallow the whistles!

While the San Antonio Spurs are as close to a dynasty we have in pro sports right now, bosses at ESPN & ABC Sports are praying that the Los Angeles Lakers win this series. This seems absurd, but the Spurs are a ratings dud should they get to the NBA Finals again. While Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker & the defending World Champions schooled LeBron James & the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 4 game sweep, remote controls got a workout as last year's Finals were a ratings flop for ABC. For some reason, the only thing that is sexy about the Spurs is the sight of Eva Longoria Parker courtside if Tony is playing. They also don't attract the casual fan to watch if Kobe Bryant's playing. Still, should the Spurs win the NBA Championship again, the time has come to take notice, recognize & respect what Gregg Popovich and the Spurs have done in the last decade. It's something we don't see anymore.

Well yes, without question they want it to be Lakers-Celtics. Then we'll see about a million highlight packages of yesteryear to make Coast happy

Any other possible combination will be considered a dud. You could play up Garnett vs. Duncan if that were to come down, but that's about it

I think its a shame that people wouldnt be excited about Spurs/Boston. The Big Three vs. the Big Two Featuring Ray Allen. Plus I really want to see KG vs. Duncan in an NBA Finals. Very similar talent on each roster. Unfortunately the coaching matchup couldnt be a bigger mismatch, but no excuses in this case, lets just see who wants it more.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I've certainly been bipolar about Garnett lately- I know I've been harping on him and then defending his play in the Atlanta series

That said, I REALLY miss the Wolves-Spurs matchups when it was basically KG vs. Duncan. They really go at each other and while I think if it were to come down to Celtics-Spurs the matchup as it stands today would be a little more diluted, I'd more than welcome it.

IIRC KG has some of best performances against Duncan. He really gets up for those games I think. I think it kills him that he hasnt had what Duncan has had. Anyway, Game 1 yesterday was probably the best I have seen him play in the playoffs so far. If he can do that game in and game out, Boston will likely win the title. It just seems like he goes into passive mode way too often for it being the playoffs and all.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think the superstar guards are more attactive to the average fan. The Kobes, LeBrons, etc. That's who the casual sports viewer tunes in to see.

It reminds me of the 1994 Finals with Houston vs. New York. That was an AWESOME 7-game series. Unfortunately, the only thing most people remember about that series is the O.J. chase.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Lakers in 7.

_________________
Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

It's on. This will be a great series. I cant believe you are calling it in 5. The only reason Im saying 6 and not 7 is because if its Game 7 in LA the Lakers will shoot 70 free throws to ensure they will be in the Finals.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Game time. Im excited. Reason number 4,782 I love this game... now I dont have to watch the White Sox game anymore.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Tony Parker is killing Derek Fisher so bad even Steve Nash feels bad for him.

I like how Kobe is playing. Doing a great job setting up easy buckets for Vlad and Pau. He'll try to take over when its time.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I said that after the first quarter. I didnt like his second quarter. I think its important to get his guys going in the first, knowing he can get his whenever. In the 2nd when he got back in he had some Garnett in him, passing it too much, to a fault. I expect him to get 10-14 in the 3rd while still playing team ball.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

This is one series that I dont think will go home-home-home, etc. These teams are too good, and their role players too experienced, to give a shit if the crowd likes them or not. Im guessing this is gonna be 2-2 after four games with a road win for each team. It would be big for the Spurs to take this first game.

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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The Spurs execution is incredible. Thats what I was trying to tell Rick in the other thread when saying its weird some people who claim to like basketball say they are boring. Its the complete opposite.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think the Spurs struggle more without Tony Parker then without Duncan. Not saying he's more valuable, I think its more an indictment of Vaughn.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Fuck these fucking refs. Horrible fucking call right there. It was clearly a foul AND out of bounds on Gasol. Its clear who the refs/NBA want to win this game.

Edit: And two plays later, Bowens feet were clearly planted in the lane when Kobe gave him a shoulder to free up space. This one I dont mind as much because a precedent has been set. It's an MJ non-call, which is fine, but it was technically definitely an offensive foul.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

7 points in the last 9 minutes by the Spurs and some good ole fashioned NBA home-cookin' didnt hurt matters.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

We saw a different game. Either way Im not crying, my first example was the 7 points. The Spurs uncharacteristically scored 7 in the last 9 minutes. Im not saying they should have won. But, IMO, its incredible that any objective person who watched that game thought the Lakers didnt get the edge by a wide margin.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Thats fine, an obvious case of agree to disagree. The Lakers were expected to win, and they did. I only hope the Spurs dont get completely fucked an enjoy the home cookin' all home teams have enjoyed this postseason.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Reason number 565 I love this Spurs team... No Excuses. People rip them for whining alot, but when all is said and done they either took care of business or didnt. They slept on a plane for 11 hours, Ginobli had a hangnal, and an a messed up ankle, and they clearly were fatigued in the second half, but all you heard from them was they were fine, and they didnt take care of business. Same thing last series when everyone was saying Duncan had a very high temp the first couple games, and clearly something was wrong with him, yet he kept refusing to say it was anything or than he needed to step up.

Im interested to see how they come out tonight. Parker fell off in the second half last game, and Im guessing fatigue might have had something to do with it. He needs to take it at Fisher for 48 minutes tonight. There is no reason he cant average 30 ppg this series.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

No Im not. I was stating facts. I was saying I like how they didnt use any of those things as excuses. Thats probably the only time I have seen a Spurs team melt down in the 4th quarter like that. It's pretty rare. It was obvious to me and all the talking heads on TV they were tired as hell from the last series + sleeping in chairs on the plane. They lost because they scored 7 points in the last 9 minutes and the Lakers benefitted from having this generations MJ which allowed him to get that shot off tied at 85 despite the obvious offensive foul.

Tonight's game should be good, I dont see the Spurs losing but I wouldnt call it a lost series if they do lose tonight. Thats what people were thinking last series.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Im a little surprised LA mailed this game in tonight. Thats not the killer instinct we have heard about from Kobe. 6 minutes left in the game and he hasnt gone to the foul line once. I guess they didnt feel like trying to put the series away tonight.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I need to shut up, right after I typed that Kobe hit three 3's in a row, went to the line, and just hit another three now.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul