The Lakers were enjoying their dinner at a South Bay restaurant, each receiving a $9,800 watch as a gift from Kobe Bryant, when it reality hit.

Their break was over. The San Antonio Spurs were beckoning. The Lakers knew exactly what time it was.

“You know who you’re facing,” Pau Gasol said earlier in the day. “They know how to get it done.”

The Lakers got together again to view a playoff game, this time watching the Spurs finish off New Orleans.

At the restaurant, Bryant gave each of his teammates a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch as thanks for helping him win the Most Valuable Player award. Then the Lakers went their separate ways, knowing what awaited them on Wednesday in the opener of the Western Conference finals—defense, defense, tradition and more defense.

The Spurs and Lakers have a history, obviously, having crisscrossed each other during their various championship runs over the last decade.

The Spurs have won four of the last nine National Basketball Association (NBA) titles, while the Lakers took the first three of the new millennium.

All along, there were series to remember, moments for each franchise to savor, such as a shot with 0.4 seconds left that defined a career.

San Antonio swept the Lakers in 1999 on the way to its first NBA championship. The Lakers returned the favor with a sweep in 2001 on the way to their second title of this decade. The Lakers took the Spurs again in 2002, winning a five-game series on the way to another championship. The Lakers then needed six games to beat the Spurs in 2004, buoyed by Derek Fisher’s “0.4” shot in front of a stunned San Antonio crowd in Game Five.

The teams went 2-2 against each other this season, the Lakers winning the most recent meeting, 106-85, at Staples Center a few days before the regular season ended.

Meanwhile, forward Trevor Ariza, who hasn’t played since January 20 because of a broken bone in his right foot, finished a scrimmage at Monday’s practice with an eye-catching reverse dunk. He is expected to return to game action at some point in the West finals.

“He looked good today,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “There’s still some recognition skills [where] he’s re-orienting himself to what we do. His speed and athleticism is always a factor. He runs the lanes. His defense is aggressive. There’s a lot of things that Trevor does naturally that are very beneficial to team play at both ends of the floor.”

Piston-Celtics collision was course charted even before season’s tip-off

The Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons meeting in the Eastern Conference finals seemed inevitable the moment Kevin Garnett heeded the advice of Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups and left Minnesota to join All-Stars Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in Boston.

Defense watchword for Lakers against defending champions

The Lakers were enjoying their dinner at a South Bay restaurant, each receiving a $9,800 watch as a gift from Kobe Bryant, when it reality hit.

THE Talk ’N Text Phone Pals have the solo leadership in mind as they go up against struggling but still dangerous Purefoods TJ Giants in the main game of the Smart-Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Conference tonight at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Louie Alas has succeeded in basketball long enough it’s hard to believe he hasn’t won a championship in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).

Willy Wang led a Philippine team that performed above expectations with two gold medals in the recent seventh Asian Wushu Championship in Macau.

SWIMMING, the sport that did the country proud in last year’s 24th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG), and which has qualified the most number of Filipino athletes to the Beijing Olympic Games in August, is in troubled waters.

Tagaytay City—The first of two Philippine editions of the Mercedes-Benz Tour formally opens on Wednesday with the top 30 Asean golfers and 90 amateurs vying for top honors in the pro-am side event slated at the rolling course of the Tagaytay Midlands Golf and Country Club course.

GOLFERS, whether professional or amateur, do not rely only on skills or expertise alone, but on their caddies’ knowledge to navigate their way around the different conditions of the courses. Golf was really designed for two people, so a golfer-caddie relationship is very critical.

The pressure of winning has taken its toll on school athletes. Many schools today are fighting over talent and are usually moving heaven and earth to get the players to assure them of sporting success.