No home court in NBA Finals

Staff writer Mike Bresnahan ties up some loose ends before Lakers playoff games.

Q&A of the day

Question: What happens if the Lakers play the Pistons in the Finals, as far as home court? Yes, yes, I know, let’s beat the Spurs first, but seriously, do you know the answer to that?

–Segev Perets

Answer: I’m guessing you were the type that always had to be three chapters ahead of everybody else in school. Detroit would be the home team because of a better regular-season record than the Lakers, and the same goes for Boston, though San Antonio might take issue with this entire conversation.

Best-case Lakers scenario

Manu Ginobili struggles again. Tim Duncan can’t match his monstrous 30-point, 18-rebound numbers from Game 1. “Experienced” edges closer to “overripe” when the league’s oldest team looks every year of its average age of almost 32 years old per player.

Worst-case Lakers scenario

Another slow start, another 20-point deficit. Only this time, Kobe Bryant can’t save the day and the Spurs yank away home-court advantage.

Thanks, professor

Lamar Odom went academic when asked how he would grade the Lakers’ Game 1 effort. “The way we closed the game, you could give us an ‘A’. The third quarter, I would say a ‘D’. The way we started the game, somewhere between a C-plus and a B-minus. The overall grade would be – well, we won the game. We passed the test, the first test.”

Final thought

If the Lakers win tonight, they can take comfort that almost 94% of NBA teams win a best-of-seven series after taking a 2-0 lead. If they lose, the 82-game push they made to secure home court becomes a waste. Here’s thinking that the Lakers win, barely, perhaps even in overtime.