Here are five things to look for in tonight’s Game 5 of the Lakers-Spurs Western Conference finals:
** The start of the game will be critical. If the Lakers come out with a ton of energy and a closer’s mentality, I’m not sure the Spurs have enough left in their tank to withstand the fury. If the Lakers play as if the series already is over and lack the requisite put-away intensity, it’ll be a ballgame until the end. My guess is the first scenario. Either way, keep a close eye on those first five minutes.
** I don’t need to urge anyone to monitor the officiating, because — as so often happens in the age of the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle — that story has taken on a life of its own. It’d be considerably more interesting if the Derek Fisher-Brent Barry incident had happened in Los Angeles, with the next game in San Antonio. In that case, the officials would have heard the wrath of the crowd, and that would have affected the way the game was called (human nature being what it is). Lakers fans have nothing to complain about, other than Kobe Bryant’s lack of free throws.
** Which Manu Ginobili will show up? Ginobili has been as erratic as Rex Grossman in this series, with Good Manu appearing just once (Game 3, a Spurs victory) and Bad Manu three times (Games 1, 2 and 4, all Spurs losses). Although Ginobili quickly deflected questions about his health after Game 1, he must be more seriously hurt than anyone is letting on. I mean, Sasha Vujacic is a tenacious defender, but he’s no Bruce Bowen. As the TNT crew noted after Game 4, the Spurs need offensive output from four players to stand a chance — the “Big Three” of Ginobili, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, plus someone else. All Barry’s big Game 4 did was offset Ginobili’s minimal contribution.
** Speaking of Vujacic, I expect a bounce-back game from him tonight. His offense was a liability in Games 3 and 4 (combined 2 for 11 from the field), and he wasn’t much better in Games 1 and 2 (6 for 17). But after his 1-for-11 effort in Game 5 of the Utah series, he responded with a 5-for-7, 12-point outing in the closeout Game 6. So there is precedence for this.
** Finally — and it’s kinda crazy to say this about someone averaging 26.8
points per game in the series — it feels like the right time for a Kobe explosion. Yeah, Bowen is defending the heck out of him. But at some point Kobe’s going to go off, and what better time than when the Spurs are on life support? If it isn’t one of those 40-point outbursts, it’ll be something close to a triple-double — say, 26-8-9. That shouldn’t be too much to ask of a guy who can leap over cars and pools of snakes.
