Final Score: Dominant fourth quarter leads Spurs over Lakers, 93-80

Going into the game it didn't seem like this was going to be much of a contest. The Lakers just don't have the talent to run with a rested Spurs team even if they're missing three key guys.

Of course, this is sports and games don't always go the way you think. For instance, the Rockets beat the 76ers by just a point in Houston a night after the Sixers lost by 50+ to Dallas. In this one, the first quarter was surprisingly close, with the Spurs missing some shots and the Lakers playing hard for their home crowd. The Lakers defense merely looked bad, not horrendous.

In the second quarter the Spurs built a 10-point lead and then proceeded to miss nine of eleven shots. The Lakers were just as bad on their end and failed to make up much ground during the Spurs' cold streak. Tim Duncan snapped the drought with his 25,000th point - a little hook in the lane.The next possession saw Big Fun find Ginobili for an easy layup. By the time the first half came to a close the Lakers had shot just 3-of-17 in the second quarter to give the Lakers their fewest first half points this season. They trailed, like every game they've played this season, the Spurs by 12 at the half, 47-35. Kobe took just four shots, and missed them all, in the half which was well off the pace of his 24.5 attempts per game.

Kobe shot more in the first half of the third quarter, taking four in the first six minutes, but the ball still didn't drop for him and he was unable to connect on those attempts. When he finally took a seat in the fourth he hit just one of his 14 attempts for the game and posted a team-low minus-16.

By the end of a back and forth third quarter where neither team shot well, the Spurs held an eleven point lead at 68-57.

Leonard played well in this one, but found himself in foul trouble and didn't play too many minutes. He looked good out there and finished with 12 points on six shots, five boards, two steals and two blocks in his 18 minutes. He left the game after a rake across the face drew blood and he went to the locker room and never returned. I don't think it's anything to be concerned with and the Spurs didn't need his services to pull out the W.

The Spurs used a 10-1 run to push the lead out to 18 four minutes into the final period at 78-60. From there, with the Spurs finally clicking as a team, the good guys quickly put this one out of reach. A Kobe Bryant turnover led to a wide-open, deep triple for Danny Green and the Spurs cruised to a very comfortable 84-62 lead.

One last note: Hubie Brown called Kobe and Tim two of the greatest dinosaurs that the league has ever seen. I thought that was funny coming from a guy who's 81 and kind of looks like a dinosaur.

Your Spurs improve to 5-3 and travel to Sacramento to take on the Kings tomorrow night at 9:30 Spurs time.