San Antonio at Los Angeles

The Lakers have a lot of issues on offense without Kobe Bryant to bail them out. They will have to come out smoking on the defensive end to allow them to shorten the game on the offensive end. They got in a shootout in the last week of the regular season vs. Golden State, but looking over their home opponents in the last month of the season that were good teams, they held Houston to 90, not including overtime, this same San Antonio team to 86, Memphis to 84, Chicago to 81, and Dallas to 81. They sure are capable of taking the floor and making a defensive statement early. The Spurs have been in the playoffs for over a decade straight, and they know the secret to competing is playing strong defense early on the road. Last year in their first two road games in the first round, they held Utah to 39 points per game in the first half. I look for a strong defensive showing early by both these teams, so play the first half UNDER the total.