Kobe Bryant’s quest for history will dominate the pregame and postgame discussions on Friday, but the San Antonio Spurs are not dressing for an awards ceremony. With a record of 16-6, the Spurs are currently slotted into the sixth seed in the dangerously lethal Western Conference.
On the opposite side of the Spurs, the Lakers have a 6-16 record entering Friday night’s game. To earn their sixth win, the Lakers required a superhuman fourth quarter from Bryant against a Sacramento Kings team that was without its best player, DeMarcus Cousins.
This may not be breaking news, but the Lakers are currently not as good as the Spurs.
When these teams met at Staples Center on Nov. 14, Bryant was under the weather and looked every bit of his age. San Antonio held Bryant to nine points on 1-14 shooting. Bryant did manage six assists, but that game should hint that the Spurs have no intentions of allowing no. 24 to score 31 points and pass no. 23 on the all-time scoring list.
The Spurs last played on Wednesday in a game that featured Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili all watching from the sidelines. Ginobili was rested, Duncan did not get into the game on a coach’s decision, Leonard and Parker missed the game due to a bruised hand and strained hamstring, respectively. The Spurs still beat the New York Knicks by double digits.
With Bryant and the Lakers coming to town, Duncan, Ginobili, Parker and Leonard all returning to the lineup would surprise no one. Balance, however, is the key to the Spurs’ version of the beautiful game on hardwood. Parker leads the team with 16.6 points per game, but he is joined by four other Spurs who also average double digits in points.
To further illustrate the Spurs’ balance, Parker is averaging 5.5 assists per game to lead the team. As a point guard, that number does not jump off the page, as Bryant is averaging a comparable 4.9 assists per game. However, 11 Spurs average at least one assist per game, which points out exactly how balanced the Spurs are on the offensive end. The Lakers have six guys that average at least 1.0 assists per game.
The Lakers enter San Antonio as massive underdogs on Friday night, and Spurs coach Greg Popovich would love nothing more than to beat the Lakers and deny Bryant in his attempt to pass Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list.
The Lakers and Spurs tip off at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
