San Antonio at L.A. Lakers
Time: 9:30 PM CT (TNT)
Spread: SAS -2.5
Total: 211
Odds c/o 5dimes
The San Antonio Spurs travel to face Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers in the second of two games Thursday night on TNT. Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge and the Spurs are 2.5-point favorites over the Lakers, who have thus far posted a 8-14 mark at Staples Center.
SPURS NOTES:
The Spurs are one of only two teams (Boston is the other) to hold opponents to less than 100 points per game this season (98.4 allowed by the Spurs nightly). The more things change the more they stay the same, as San Antonio bid farewell to Tim Duncan two seasons ago but still maintains one of the best defensive schemes in the league courtesy of head coach Gregg Popovich.
The Spurs also welcomed former Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard back to its lineup, which should make a tremendous difference as the Spurs more than treaded water without its top player. Leonard has been eased into action, but in just 22.6 minutes a night over eight starts, he has averaged 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and two assists per game.
As Leonard rounds into shape, expect the Spurs to make a run at one of the top spots in the Conference. This is still a team replete with talent, and LaMarcus Aldridge is having a fine season in leading the team with 22.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Swingman Rudy Gay has been serviceable and helped slow the bleeding with Leonard out, while Pau Gasol may have declined a lot statistically he adds veteran leadership and makes smart basketball players. There is no mistaking this team, it has the stamp of Pop’s leadership on it, and plenty of experienced players to thrive in the postseason.
While Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili may be in their twilight years, Ginobili in particular still sees a lot of crunch time minutes. Manu is averaging 9.4 points and 2.4 assists per game in just 21 minutes a night, but his defensive acumen and savvy play makes the Spurs a tougher team; it always has.
Second-year guard Dejounte Murray appears to be the eventual successor to Parker, while Patty Mills is more of the immediate solution. The pair combined averages 15.6 points and 5.3 assists per game, which is probably what either one could put up as the full-time starter in eventuality. There is the argument that Mills might not thrive on a team not coached by Pop, but that argument is frail and based on precious little. Mills is a clutch shooter, and Murray is quite athletic. The Spurs remain in good hands.
LAKERS NOTES:
The L.A. Lakers continue to pile up the losses, but the team is looking more promising in many respects. Rookies Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma are both playing well, particularly Kuzma, the Utah product who ranks No. 1 on the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game. Lonzo Ball is at 10 points, 6.9 rebounds and 7.1 assists on the year, and the comparisons to Jason Kidd continue, for better or worse.
What Ball does do, is make the Lakers a better team when he is on the court. His vision and leadership have been apparent even as a rookie, and several other Lakers have shown vast improvement. Among them is former No. 2 overall pick Brandon Ingram, who is averaging 16.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 35 minutes a night.
Former Detroit Piston Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been something of a disappointment but is still a steady 2-guard and a bit of an upgrade over what Lou Williams did (score and score, basically). The Lakers still just play horrible team defense, and adding Brook Lopez was no surety to improve on that end of the court. Opposing bigs seem to batter the Lakers exceptionally well, and the perimeter defense has been average at best.
Kentucky product Julius Randle has faded out of the picture, but his undersized stature was never at the root of the problem anyway. The Lakers just do not rotate well defensively and Lopez is not a rim protector, notwithstanding that he blocks 1.6 shots per game. Larry Nance Jr.’s effort can be infectious, and perhaps if all the Lakers displayed Nance’s defensive acumen this would be a plus .500 team, but it is difficult to win with the layup drills teams regularly perform against the Lakers’ lackluster defense.
