And so it begins again. It becomes a tradition this time of the year - jumping aboard the bandwagon of whoever is playing San Antonio.
I'll eventually recover from the void left by Chris Paul's departure in time to root on a Lakers victory, as much as any good human being can root for LA. Kobe Bryant and his posse have demonstrated an ability to take down evil a few times this decade, but this will be the Mamba's first attempt without Shaquille O'Neal.
Can Pau Gasol hang with Tim Duncan? We can be sure he'll get his points, but he clearly will struggle on D. Who's going to step up and be physical with Bruce Bowen, Cheap Shot Rob, and Kurt Thomas? It's doubtful anyone will besides Kobe.
This was the anticipated series where Andrew Bynum was going to be the factor, but he's still recovering from having his
We know Derek Fisher will step up and do his best to contain Tony Parker, but ultimately this will be decided by whether or not a Jordan Farmer or Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic can score from outside, and most importantly, keep the Frenchman from running circles around them.
Oh, and how many games Joey Crawford officiates probably will decide the series, too. My hope is he does them all.
Enjoy the game, if possible.
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