A view of the Spurs-Kings series from the inside

San Antonio Spurs

	Tony Parker may have led the Spurs offensively this season, but he will find his route to the basket rougher in the playoffs. D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images

The Spurs are the favorites in the West, but they're no lock. All of a sudden they have to be concerned with age and health. They have eight guys who are 30 or older ... Tim Duncan was especially affected by plantar fasciitis to the point that offensively opponents worried more this year about Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, with Duncan serving as the third concern. If you've ever had that type of injury, you know that every step you take brings a sharp pain, and it's hard to focus like you're used to doing ... The Spurs have tried to invest in Parker by working with him to improve his jump-shooting, but I question whether it's in his personality to take on the role of a leading scorer. I think he's going to be reluctant to be that type of player and it's going to take more prodding and goading from Gregg Popovich to get him there ... Ginobili looks tired to me. He's a tough kid who plays all-out, and I always wonder how guys like that are able to hold up over the course of the season ... Another question I have is whether Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel will be able to contribute in a big way if needed.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings are pretty excited as an organization. They feel good about where they are because the acquisition of Ron Artest gave them a big-time jump ... The longer this series goes on, the more chance they have of catching the Spurs off-guard ... Artest is a tough matchup for anybody, and I can see him learning to play within the system. They're giving him a few more postups, but he's also learning to play that two-man game with the screens that they've done so well with over the years ... Though he isn't an interior defender, Artest still improves their overall defense because he has that reputation and it forces other guys to step up their defense to keep up with him ... When they play Bonzi Wells with Artest it becomes very difficult to defend two big, physical wing guys like that. Then you add Bibby and Brad Miller, who I think remains an underrated guy capable of knocking down threes as well as posting up; he's a passer and rebounder who is versatile in any number of ways ... I believe the Kings would be in better shape if they'd given some job security to coach Rick Adelman. You've got to figure that guys like Bibby and Miller have been asking, "What's going to happen if Adelman doesn't return, and we stop playing this style that has been so good to me and my career?"