Lakers push Spurs to brink
SAN ANTONIO: The Los Angeles Lakers handed the defending champion San Antonio Spurs their first home defeat of the playoffs Tuesday to take a stranglehold on their NBA semifinal series.
NBA Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant scored 28 points with 10 rebounds as the Lakers held off the Spurs 93-91 to take a three-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference final series.
The Lakers will try to close out the series and book their berth in the NBA Finals when they host Game 5 in Los Angeles on Thursday.
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The Los Angeles Lakers' Luke Walton (center) scores under a crowded basket next to Pau Gasol and the San Antonio Spurs' Manu Ginobili (left) and Tim Duncan (right) during Game 4 of their Western Conference final playoff series on Tuesday. Reuters |
Lamar Odom, who struggled through a dismal Game 3, scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Pau Gasol added 10 and 10 for the Lakers, who shot 44 percent from the field.
Tim Duncan scored 29 points with 17 rebounds and Tony Parker chipped in 23 points for the Spurs, who didn't go quietly.
Tony Parker's fast-break layup in the wake of a goaltending call on Odom cut the Lakers' lead to 93-91.
On the next possession, the Spurs forced a jump-shot miss by the Lakers that went out of bounds off the leg of Robert Horry.
That gave the Lakers the ball back with two seconds on the shot clock, but Bryant missed a jump shot to give the Spurs one more chance with 2.1 seconds to play.
Horry inbounded the ball to Brent Barry, who pump-faked once before throwing up a wild 3-pointer under pressure from Derek Fisher at the buzzer that was wide right.
"Fish came from the weak side and I didn't see him until I turned, and by then it was too late," Barry said.
In the aftermath, the Spurs said that despite some apparent contact, the lack of a foul call on the play was correct.
"It wasn't a foul," said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. "If I'd been the official, I wouldn't have called a foul."
Added Spurs star Tim Duncan: "You're not going to get that call, they're not going to make that call.
"(Barry) made the right play, he knows they're not going to make that call - he's trying to get a good look at the basket and make a clean shot."
Barry finished with 23 points for San Antonio.
After a big Game 3, San Antonio's Manu Ginobili struggled offensively with just seven points.
"I thought he tried to be aggressive, he just couldn't get it going," Duncan said of Ginobili.
AFP
(China Daily 05/29/2008 page20)
