Lakes Pull out Game 1

Watching the Spurs/Lakers game tonight it felt like watching the big brother play against his little brother. The Spurs showed their dominance and looked to squash the Lakers early, leading 65-45 at one point. However, the Lakers proved they wouldn't be bullied around by turning things around and showing they can hang with the big kids now.

While Tim Duncan's stat line of 30 points & 18 rebounds looks sensational, almost all of his production came in the first 2 1/2 quarters of the game. As the game progressed, Kobe Bryant looked like the MVP (something that's hard for me to admit) and completely took the game over. During a 14-0 run, Kobe had his hands in every play. When Bryant wasn't hitting the shot, he was drawing the extra defender and finding his open teammate. Thankfully for Bryant, Gasol and Odom both stepped up and hit the shots they needed, and Bruce Bowen was off the court.

Watching the last two minutes of tonight's game, it was very clear that the referees had no control over what was happening on the court. I completely understand that an official doesn't want to make the call that ruins the game for one team and I'm as big a fan of the "let them play" mentality as anyone else, but let's also not forget about consistency. There were loose balls where the scene resembled a mosh pit and not a professional basketball game. The horrible call with 1:07 left to give the Lakers possession and the awful makeup call (or lack of call) when Ginobili clearly fouled Gasol was amateur.

The Spurs came into Game 1 tired from a long series and a ridiculous travel schedule, but they played the Lakers tough. A weaker team with a lesser coach would let that be defeating, to lose such a big lead, but Gregg Popovich will use it as a tool to improve for Game 2. Despite the loss, I'm still behind my pick of the Spurs in 6.

Anyone else happy to see some fire coming from Tim Duncan?