They just ran out of gas last night. It stings because they blew a golden opportunity, but I think they have the better team overall.
The way I see it, they went up by 20 in LA with Ginobili having a terrible game. If the Lakers aren't going to double Duncan, he is going to kill them all series. The Lakers still have no answer for Parker. The Spurs just lost their legs. I hope they can find them, but they only have 1 day between games. Not a good sign.
The game changed when Bowen picked up his 3rd foul in the middle of the third. Kobe couldn't get it going until then, and after he got in rhythm with Bowen on the bench, the Lakers took off. They didn't bring Bowen back in until the beginning of the 4th quarter. I don't blame Pop for trying to get him some rest, especially with that lead, but by that time, the Spurs had lost momentum and had run out of gas. Stat of the night: Bruce Bowen was +18. Oh, and Finley was atrocious. The 4th quarter, when you can't buy a basket, would've seemed like a nice time to put Barry in the game, especially considering he didn't play a minute in game 7 against NO and should've been better rested than his teammates.