LOSING REALLY REALLY HURTS WHEN...

...score is tied at 92 at a Kings vs Spurs game. Finley shoots a three after the shot clock expires. He says he shot it after. Popovich says Finley shot it after. The entire Kings team says he shot it after.

The refs? Well, they count it. Spurs win by 3.

Watch the debacle.

QUICK HITS IN THE NBA'S FIRST WEEK!

SURPRISES:

ATLANTA HAWKS. 2-0 already, lording it over fancied teams like the Magic (2-2) and the Heat (1-2). Josh Smith and Joe Johnson have been turning it on but for how long can they keep this up?

MARK GASOL. For four years, the younger Gasol labored in Europe with comments like "plodding", "not as skilled", "a lesser talent" when compared to big brother Pau. Mark stepped out of Pau's shadow in the Olympics and, in the Grizz's first four games, has managed to become the more talked-about Gasol. He logged in three solid games as the Grizz starting center before totally demolishing the Golden State Warriors with 27 points in 9-16 shooting, 16 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and a win over the Warriors ending a 7 game skid to them.

MIAMI HEAT. Wade was pure gold in the Olympics. Beasely is an offensive beast. Marion is a defensive stud. So why are they 1-2?

SPURS. Is Manu Ginobili this important to the Spurs basketball machine? The Spurs have now gone 0-3, their first such start since 1973. If they go 0-4, they'll tie their worst ever start which came when they were still in the ABA. 

NON-SURPRISES:

LAKERS ON TOP. They already had Kobe, Pau and Odom when they made their Finals run. Now, young Andrew Bynum has returned and seems to be well on the path to full recovery. How much better can these Lakers get?

DERRICK ROSE. Every thought that this young man would be a very special player somewhere down the road. The good news is he's a very special player, just four games into hi NBA career. This early, he has become the starter, led the team in scoring and assists and looks to have adjusted to the NBA pace.

KNICKS AT THE BOTTOM. I know a coach is important but how could anyone expect the '05 Phoenix Suns to emerge from the '08 Knicks? With practically no new players and some 08 starters banished (Curry, Marbury), D'Antoni will have to do a David Copperfield and pull out some unexpected victories over tough division rivals to avoid languishing in their familiar spot: last place.

POP TRUMPS SHAQ!

A couple of days ago, Shaq went on record saying the Spurs were "cowards" for employing the Hack-A-Shaq even when they were leading. The Hack-A-Shaq is when players foul Shaq and force him to shoot freethrows, banking on the fact that Shaq hits only about half of them (and sometimes less than that).

How did the Spurs react? Well, 5 seconds into the first game of the season, Pop showed Shaq what his...humor...tastes like.

PS There's a poll on my blog sportsfandom.blogspot.com. Do vote! Thanks!

LAST STAND FOR SAN ANTONIO?

This is it. No turning back. No backing down.

For the Spurs, this game is "do-or-die".

But if they "do", then they get another "do-or-die" game. And if they "do" again, a final "do-or-die" game.

Seems a lot easier to just "die" and go to the Bahamas.

Still, they've got a crown to defend and I don;t expect them to just roll over and die.

FOUL NON FOUL?

What do you think?



I thought it was a foul, I still think it's a foul, and the Lakers got a gift.

MAN, OH, MANU!

A foot beyond the three point line. Hand in the face. Fading away. Defender right up there. Time winding down.

So Manu hits the three, his fourth in the first half.

And just like that, the Spurs have revitalized their flagging playoff spirits. While Tony parker and Tim Duncan struggled to get into their deadly playoff forms, Manu Ginobili, the great Argentine shot down the Lakers' dreams of winning Game 3.

And he did it against Vujavic, Radmanovic, Walton, even Kobe for a spell. Finally, the Lakers accepted the inevitable and started preparing for Game 4 with about 4 minutes left on the clock.

By this time, the Spurs were on a roll, with Udoka, Finley, Bowen and Barry joining the scoring fray. This time, the Lakers bench had no answer.

My guess is the Spurs will win game 4 as well. And then, chances are the home teams win until Game 7.

And Game 7 is anybody's ballgame.

PAYBACK IS GAME 2!

Remember the Suns-Spurs series, when the Suns were a couple of minutes away from stealing homecourt advantage and wound up with a heartbreaking loss from which they never recovered?

The Spurs remember, alright. After all, they might be the new Suns.

After battling the mighty Lakers to a virtual standstill, the Spurs had a chance to knock them off and go home with LA's back against the wall already, despite it being the first game of the series.

Instead, the loss gnawed at their innards and they were simply mortal as Game 2 rolled around.

Now, they go home and try to win two games in a bid to avoid repeating history. Suns history, that is.

HERE COME THE SPURS!

Well, well, well. Look at who just got their championship form back.

Yes, all the Spurs needed were some home cooking, some home cheering and the 6th Man awardee to become a starter.

Manu Ginobili started in Game 3 and he started out hot. By the end of the Spurs' Game 3 110-99 victory, Ginobili has logged in 31 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.

Tony Parker came back with a vengeance with another 31 points and 11 assists, negating Chris Paul's excellent offensive game (35points and 9 assists).

David West had a monster game with 23 points while Tim Duncan had a solid game with 16points.

But for me, the biggest reasons why the Spurs won were the disappearance of Tyson Chandler (foul trouble) and Peja Stojakovic (8 points in 2-7 shooting, as contrast to Game 2's 25points) and the timely offensive contributions of Michael Finley (3-5 three's in the 2nd quarter) and Bruce Bowen (4 three pointers in the 2nd half).

Now we get to see how fast the Hornets adjust to playoff basketball.

STUNG AGAIN!

I knew it was going to happen but I didn't know it was going to be this bad.

Game 2 was supposed to be the game where the Spurs start feeling their way back into the series. And for about 24minutes, they did.

Too bad it was the first 24minutes of the game. As soon as the second half started, it went back to being the Hornets' game to lose...so they didn't lose.

The Hornets may be young but they have CP3, who is one of the two best young point guards in the NBA right now (Deron Williams is the other), David West, who is fast becoming the premiere power forward of the Western Conference, as well as Peja Stojakovich, still as deadly as ever from the perimeter. Add to that Tyson Chandler and you have a pretty potent team.

Of course, you can't ever count out a team with TD, Parker, Manu and Pop in it. You just can't do it. The Spurs are just like that movie monster that gets shot, incinerated, crushed by a ten wheeler and then decapitated...and still stands up to go after the hero.

I'll believe the Spurs are dead once the Hornets win 4games...not one game too soon.

CAN THE SPURS STEAL GAME 2?

They can but they probably won't.

The Hornets' biggest advantage is that they are an unknown playoff team. No one really knows their identity and character, things like who steps up, who chokes, who passes up his normal shots and stuff like that.

I think the Spurs need another game to determine how to attack the Hornets...then the fun begins for them.

Popovich is among the best coaches in the game (in fact, second only to Jerry Sloan, in my humble opinion). He'll figure out how to take West away, maybe with Robert Horry or with Kurt Thomas. He'll figure out how to tire CP3 out and maybe get Bowen to shut down Peja.

All in all, I think it'll come down to championship experience...and the Hornets just don't have the bling to bring down the defending champions...yet.

Spurs in 6games.

WILL THE SUNS WIN GAME 5?

We've all heard it.

Shaq doesn't fit the Suns' truly effective run-and-gun game. (true)

Amare is a selfish, bigheaded, childish pseudo-star (again, true)

Steve Nash is getting old (correct again)

Grant Hill is gimpy (yep)

Raja Bell is nothing but a younger Bruce Bowen (weirdly so)

Diaw is a hard foul away from a disappearing act (check)

Barbosa has no defense and, as of this week, little offense (oh why do we even go on?!)

So should we just show the Spurs the door to the second round and spare everyone the sweat and agony?

Now wait just a cotton-pickin minute.

I think the old, gimpy, ill fitting Suns might just give good old TD, Manu and Mr. Longoria quite a scare before fading off into the...well...the sunset.

Why? Coz the Suns got themselves a win. They proved that it could be done. They saw a Spurs team that they could beat. And, just like Atlanta beating up on Boston for the second game in a row, the Suns are just itching to do it again.

So don't write off the Suns yet. I think Shaq might actually come back to life in Game 5. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire could be logging in double doubles yet. And Mike D'Antoni might actually have a job for a few more days.

Now Game 6 is an entirely different proposition altogether.