Duncan, Spurs Sink Lakers
A 3-pointer with the shot clock running down was no problem for Kobe Bryant. Two free throws were another story.
Bryant made a tough 3-pointer with 37 seconds left to give the Lakers the lead, but he then started shooting like Shaquille O'Neal at the foul line at the most inopportune time.
Bryant missed two foul shots with 18.9 seconds left, and Tim Duncan made the go-ahead basket for San Antonio just 10 1/2 seconds later as the Spurs defeated the Lakers 79-76 Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the their Western Conference semifinal series.
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The Lakers two more chances to score, but couldn't convert either one.
They lost the ball inbounding it with 8.4 seconds left when Avery Johnson knocked Bryant's entry pass away. And after Sean Elliott made two free throws for the Spurs to make it 79-76, Bryant missed a 30-footer at the buzzer.
"It was competitive from beginning to end," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "Both teams played much better than they did in the first game. We got after each other. We were fortunate to hit that shot down the stretch."
Game 3 in the best-of-7 series is Saturday at the Great Western Forum.
Duncan led the Spurs with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Elliott added 19 points.
O'Neal scored 16 for Los Angeles and shot 2-for-10 at the line.
On the go-ahead shot, Duncan took a pass from Mario Elie with the Spurs trailing 76-75 and scored on a right-handed jump hook over J.R. Reid to draw a roar from the Alamodome crowd.
"I was confident going up with it," Duncan said. "I played a horrible second half. I wanted to redeem myself."
O'Neal said he was supposed to help guard Duncan when he made his victory-clinching shot, but he got there too late.
"We had it, and we fell again. We beat ourselvesWe just made too many mistakes down the stretch," said O'Neal, who was 7-for-11 from the field.
The Spurs once again used a large arsenal against the powerful O'Neal, assigning David Robinson, Duncan, Malik Rose and Will Perdue to guard him at various points.
O'Neal was held to just four points in the first half. He began to find his game in the third, scoring 10 points in the period on 5-for-5 shooting.
O'Neal, who complained about the officiating after Game 1 when he went to the foul line 14 times, shot four less this time.
His complaints were milder Wednesday night.
"I was in foul trouble with some questionable calls," O'Neal said. "I don't want to talk about that."
Earlier Wednesday, the NBA fined O'Neal $7,500 for failing to leave the court in a timely fashion and verbally abusing officials after the Lakers' loss in Game 1. O'Neal ran after referee Steve Javie after that game, but Los Angeles coach Kurt Rambis kept him from getting too close.
The Spurs and Lakers had predicted the best-of-7 series would become increasingly physical, and Wednesday's game got off to an aggressive start within the first two minutes when O'Neal was called for an offensive foul that left Robinson on the floor beneath the 315-pound O'Neal.
There was lots more banging under the basket to come, but the officials tried to keep a tight grip on the game.
Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points. Glen Rice added 16,
The Spurs led 61-59 entering the fourth quarter, and Bryant ignited a 10-2 Lakers rally that gave Los Angeles a 69-63 lead.
The Los Angeles bench, outscored 17-2 by the Spurs' reserves in Game 1, played a little better this time but was still outscored by the San Antonio reserves 14-10.
"I thought we made some nice adjustments," Rambis said. "We made them work for everything they got. I thought as a whole we did a lot more good things than bad."
San Antonio got off to a quick start and held a 14-point advantage late in the first quarter as Duncan scored 10 points in the period on 4-for-7 shooting.
Rice had 10 points in the second quarter, and a 13-3 run gave Los Angeles a 38-36 lead with 2:44 left in the first half. San Antonio moved back ahead, though, and led 44-41 at halftime.
Notes: In a pre-game interview on TNT, O'Neal said Rambis was the one who destroyed a video cassette recorder in the Lakers' locker room in a fit of anger after losing Game 1 Monday night. ... Each team had 38 rebounds. .... The Spurs shot slightly better from the field, 43.5 percent, compared with the Lakers' 42 percent. ... The Spurs opened all upper decks in the dome for Game 2, selling some tickets for as little as $5.50.
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