No doubt, Spurs fans are loading up on the throat sprays and getting ready to shout "GO! SPURS! GO!" Might seem like a breathtakingly boring battle cry for one's favorite basketball team, but the Spurs since 1999 have won four NBA championships (including that "asterisk" year of 1999 that Shaquille O'Neal likes to whine about--especially now since he's enjoying his off-season). After squeaking by the New Orleans Hornets* in Game 7, they now face the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are hungry for two reasons:
Coach Phillip Jackson is eager to break Red Auerbach's record by winning his 10th NBA title as a coach; Kobe Bryant is trying to prove that he CAN win without the abovementioned O'Neal on the floor with him.
Jim Rome noted on his show that the Spurs used a great performance by sixth man Manu Ginobili and their stifling defense to outlast New Orleans. Question remains: will it be enough to get past L.A.? Will noted Laker fan Jack Nicholson reprise his Jack Torrance role from The Shining and try to scare Tim "The Big Fundamental" Duncan by chopping down his hotel room and screaming "HEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!"?
I think this will be a great series that will go six to seven games. If San Antonio can play great defense, I think they'll win.
The winner takes on the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics.
*Isn't it about time the New Orleans Hornets and Utah Jazz worked out some name swap? New Orleans Jazz sounds so much better. Makes you think that when a team leaves a city, they are required to leave the team name behind. Perhaps Utah could change its nickname to Mormons (as a homage to the Church of Latter-Day Saints), the Bees (since they're The Beehive State), the Saltlakers (since their state contains the Great Salt Lake), Rockies or Rockers (since their state has many geological wonders).
Keywords: Celtics, Hornets, Jazz, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Manu Ginobili, Pistons, Spurs, Tim Duncan
