At the half: Lakers 46, Spurs 37

May 23rd, 2008, 7:25 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Curtis Zupke, Staff writer

Nothing like a Machine to get things going for the Lakers.

Sasha Vujacic made back-to-back shots and the Lakers got three defensive stops to end the first half with an 8-0 run for a 46-37 lead over San Antonio.

San Antonio caught the Lakers at 37 on a Tim Duncan jumper at 2:10 before Vujacic, nicknamed The Machine, made a jumper and a 3-pointer.

Derek Fisher followed with a layup off a steal. Duncan missed a pair of free throws, although one might have been on purpose, before the buzzer sounded.

Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, with Lamar Odom and Vujacic each with seven. The Lakers shot 54.3 percent (19-for-35) in the first half.

Duncan had 10 points and Tony Parker had 11 for San Antonio, which shot 34.8 percent (16-for-46) in the first half.

Bryant sank a 3-pointer for a 37-33 lead with 3:03 remaining in the half. But the Spurs, who shot 15-for-41 from the field at that point, stuck around behind Duncan and Parker.

The Lakers got a spark from Jordan Farmar, who turned in a coast-to-coast reverse layup and a block on Ime Udoka in one crowd-pleasing sequence.

–Curtis Zupke, The Orange County Register

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