Scanning the blogs and beats following the Lakers' 89-85 win over the Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals ...

Steve Dillbeck, LA Daily News: "That was Steve McQueen jumping his motorcycle over the barbed-wire fence. Tunnels coming mysteriously out of the Staples Center floor. Spurs caught completely by surprise. It should not have happened. Honestly, not in a couple lifetimes. But the Lakers pulled off their Great Escape, won a game they seemed certain to lose, maybe should have lost. Yet just when it appeared the Spurs were about to become bigger winners Wednesday night than David Cook, the Lakers and Kobe Bryant woke from an odd slumber to stun San Antonio 89-85 in the opener of the Western Conference finals. Stunned, as in to leave jaws dropped. To leave Spurs muttering to themselves. To leave even their most fervent fans giddy with delight."

48 Minutes Of Hell: "I don't think this Lakers team stopped us because of a uniquely impressive defensive effort in the 2nd half. They had a couple of nice stops, in particular a few memorable blocks here and there, but for the most part I just think the Spurs started missing their shots. Or worse, I think the Spurs stopped trusting their shots. How many times did you see a Spur step into an open look and either hesitate, dribble into a worse situation or pass into a worse situation? I can think of instances down the stretch in which Parker, Duncan, Udoka, and Bowen are all guilty of such moments of self-doubt. We played like a team trying to protect a lead, not a team trying to continue to build one, and against a team as potent as the Lakers that's not going to work. We're going to need to score consistently for 48 minutes to take this series."

Bill Plaschke, LA Times: "In the end, when the unimaginable blinked on the scoreboard, when the unthinkable danced on the hardwood, the cheers even drowned out Randy Newman. All but three words. "We love it!" the too-cool Staples Center fans giddily chanted with their victory song. "We love it! We love it! We love it!" Oh, will the Lakers forever love this one. Man, will the Spurs forever loathe it. It was just one game, just Game 1, just a beginning. It felt like seven games, Game 7, an ending."

Lakers Blog: "Save Vlad Radmanovic's 5-5 juggernaut and a respectable 5-9 clip from Pau Gasol, everyone else was struggling so much to fill a bucket that the 51-43 halftime score looked like a gift. And compared to the 20-point deficit they stared down six minutes into a sloppy third quarter, it was a bow-wrapped delight. But then the Lakers regrouped, began grinding down their opponent (who shot a piddling 14% during the final quarter) and Kobe went to work. Twenty-five second half points (fourteen in the fourth frame), including the go-ahead bucket from nine-feet out with barely a full possession remaining on the clock. From there, Sasha Vujacic (who did a great job shadowing Manu Ginobili) emerged from a loose ball melee holding the prize, sank two insurance shots at the stripe, and iced the box score in the Lakers' favor."

T.J. Simers, LA Times: "For years, I have maintained Odom has the potential to be one of the game's premier players. He displayed that last season in the playoffs, playing with one arm, his other shoulder needing surgery. And he's done it down the stretch, the best thing to date, hanging tough against the Spurs when it was a lost night individually for the most part. "I'm really focused right now," Odom said, "and to be a really good or a great player, you have to be consistent."

Buck Harvey, SA Express-News: "Manu Ginobili had time on his game-winning attempt. And he didn’t. He was able to set, and he was able to release. That’s enough time for a shooter. But enough time, for him, requires a weekend with a hot tub, as well as some serious down time in a non-smoking king with the shades closed. And this, not his miss Wednesday, is what will haunt the Spurs in this series. Ginobili is never going to get the time he needs."

The Association: "I really felt that the Lakers needed to open Game 1 with a similar flurry as they did with Utah. The Spurs were weary from a long series against NOLA and I figured the Lakers would roll. Instead, Kobe opened the first half in full-blown facilitator mode. Four minutes into the game it was quite obvious that both Odom and Fisher were still in Salt Lake City and Kobe needed to become aggressive to get the Lakers out of their funk. Instead, he continued to play facilitator until the 8-minute mark in the third quarter. They won, but it might have been a lot easier."

Mike Finger, SA Express-News: "I've been in games when you were down that much and it felt like you were down 20," Bryant said. "This game didn't feel like that." He was nonchalant about the stark change in his game plan from the first half to the second. "I can get off at any time," Bryant said. Never was that more apparent than in the final three minutes, when the Spurs knew he would get the ball but still couldn't stop him."

Related: The Internets are alive, 2008 NBA Playoffs