Rejoice! The Spurs Have Fallen.

Well it’s come to an end; the epic battle royale that was the Western Conference Playoffs has ended in anticlimactic fashion; the defending champs easily vanquished by a team that’s looked like the West’s best since the bracket was laid out. The Spurs were a step slow for most of the series, relying too heavily on jumpers, committing uncharacteristic turnovers and not playing the type of D they’ve become feared for. They did an awful job of controlling tempo and didn’t have their Big 3 performing like they needed to win. Their road to this series (undoubtedly the hardest of any remaining team) couldn’t’ve helped but the Lakers were just more thorough. Kobe appeared to have the Spurs right where he wanted them, drifting in an out of dominance while his teammates confidently worked the opposition (in what for all but one of them was the biggest series of their lives). Then, with his prey reeling, the Mamba broke out for a seemingly effortless 39 in the clincher, a fatal blow to San Antonio’s repeat quest.

There’s naturally going to be plenty of talk about the no-call in game four drastically altering the course of this series, but the Lakers were no doubt the better team; their win was convincing enough that they have to be odds-on favourites no matter who makes it out of the East. In any event it’ll be a classic throwback to the Finals of the Showtime era, with the Lake Show looking poised to steal the spotlight again. Most importantly though, the Spurs are out; we don’t have to sit through another series of Bowen’s defense, Manu’s flopping, Timmy’s painstakingly methodical dominance, hack-a-whoever and the furthering of the most boring dynasty in sports. Good fuckin' riddance.