Spurs out of sorts in LA
Lakers play with purpose as they romp past San Antonio
LOS ANGELES -- Gregg Popovich, the generally erudite coach of the San Antonio Spurs, offered this assessment of yesterday's blowout loss to the Lakers: "I thought one guy on our team played well -- Devin George."
When told that he must have meant Devin Brown -- because Devean George plays for the Lakers -- Popovich shrugged and said, "I told you we were discombobulated."
Discombobulated is a polite way to describe the defending champs' play and mind-set against the Lakers, a lethal one-two combo that resulted in a 105-81 setback. The Lakers now can square this best-of-seven affair with a win here tomorrow night.
San Antonio looked more like a team that had not won since March 23, instead of one that had not lost since March 23, a streak of 17 wins. Popovich reminded his team of that after the debacle, noting virtually everyone on his team had stunk -- and that that was most out of character.
The Lakers deserved this one, coming out with a verve and passion not seen in the first two games -- or for much of the season.
Shaquille O'Neal was a monster with 28 points, 15 rebounds, 8 blocks, and 1 clipping penalty, diving to the floor to undercut Hedo Turkoglu in a loose-ball scramble. Karl Malone (13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) climbed onto the press table after a loose ball.
The Lakers shot 56.9 percent, had 29 assists, and never trailed following a 12-0 first-quarter run that made it 19-8. They never led by fewer than 10 in the second half. O'Neal was ably abetted by Kobe Bryant (22 points) and Gary Payton, who finally won his mano-a-mano with Tony Parker, outscoring the Spurs guard, 15-8.
"They took us out of our game," acknowledged Tim Duncan. "We didn't react the right way."
Popovich said none of his starters played well. When asked specifically about Duncan, the coach said, "He's a starter."
Indeed, Duncan may not have played a worse game in years; he was so bad in the first half that his agent must have been thinking of dropping him in favor of Yogi Stewart. Duncan ended up with 10 points and 13 rebounds, but he was beyond brutal in the first half (2 points, 5 rebounds, 4 turnovers).
Had it not been for George, er, Brown, and some occasional hoops by Manu Ginobili (17 points), the Spurs might have been pummeled even more.
The Lakers also clearly came out with a sense of urgency befitting the situation -- trailing, 2-0, and needing a win. The
"Phil [Jackson] told us to play with a lot of passion," O'Neal said. "And we're at home. This is our building, our city. We want to take care of our home-court advantage. In San Antonio, we really beat ourselves. Playoffs are just like chess. They made their moves at their crib and now we're at our crib and we gotta make our moves."
You also could say that San Antonio was due -- overdue -- for a loss. It had been 46 days. What you could not envision was Duncan looking like Chris Mihm, as the Lakers collapsed around him. Or Parker getting repeatedly thwarted on his favorite play, the pick-and-roll, as the Lakers willingly gave up the long ball, which the Spurs mostly missed when there was any semblance of competition. Then there was Rasho Nesterovic, who went Greg Kite on everyone with twice as many fouls and turnovers (8 total) as rebounds (4). He also went scoreless in 23 minutes. Turkoglu had one hoop in 23 minutes.
The Lakers led by 12 after one and by 10 at the break. Theoretically, the Spurs were still in it, despite scoring 32 points in the first half. But LA blew the lead out to 17 after three and then to 28 in what basically was a garbage-time fourth quarter.
Afterward, the ever-gracious Jackson acknowledged this was not the same Spurs team he had seen in the first two games -- or expected to see the rest of the way. "The pressure is still on us," he said.
Popovich said he was looking forward to a good dinner and some fine wine. You can be sure he didn't forget the name of his favorite cabernet. 