NY Times News Service and Reuters, LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK
Twelve months later, their superstar tandem doubled and their karma growing stronger by the hour, the Lakers purged from their memory the only season-ending sadness they have known in four years.
PHOTO: AP
They put down the Spurs on Saturday with an 88-76 victory at Staples Center, closing out the conference semifinals in six games, taking the series from a 2-0 deficit to a 4-2 victory.
"I knew we had it in us," Shaquille O'Neal said.
The Lakers became just the eighth team to win a series after losing the first two games and the first since the Houston Rockets in 1995. They ended the Spurs' bid for back-to-back titles and will now play in the Western Conference finals for the fourth time in five seasons. The Lakers' prior three appearances all ended in championships.
"It feels good," Kobe Bryant said afterward, with daughter Natalia sitting in his lap. "It feels good to kind of get revenge, per se, but there's many more obstacles to overcome."
The Lakers' opponent will be either the Sacramento Kings or the Minnesota Timberwolves, who play Game 6 of their series today. Minnesota leads 3-2.
The next series will begin Wednesday if the Timberwolves win tonight, Friday if that series goes to seven games. The Lakers own home-court advantage against the Kings but not the Timberwolves, based on regular-season records.
Two games into this series, the Lakers appeared headed for another early playoff exit. But their defense got stiffer as the days went by, and Tim Duncan and Tony Parker grew less imposing with every Lakers victory.
In the clinching game, the Spurs' star tandem produced just 29 points, just three more than Bryant did by himself. Duncan never got comfortable against Karl Malone's rough-and-tumble defensive stance, and Parker vanished once the Lakers made a tactical adjustment before Game 3. He finished with nine points on 4-for-18 shooting in Game 6.
And the Lakers' offseason overhaul, inspired by the Spurs' victory last May, proved fruitful. Malone and Gary Payton fulfilled the mission O'Neal set out for them.
"Shaq told me something this summer. And then he just told me again during the timeout," Malone said, though he remained coy about the details. "I looked at him and said, `I didn't doubt you.'"
Said Payton: "We just got past a team that they didn't get past. They came and got us, we got past them now. Now we've got to keep moving on.
"It feels good to beat them. They were a good team. Now we've still got to go against another good team. ... This next series is going to be hard, too."
Bryant overcame the exhaustion of a long and difficult week to deliver 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the clincher. Payton added 15 points and Devean George 10. And O'Neal ended with a flourish -- 17 points, 19 rebounds, five blocked shots and two key free throws late in the game.
The Spurs, champions in 1999 and 2003, again were denied the chance to repeat by the Lakers.
"Defensively, they were wonderful," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "That was really our demise in the series."
After the final buzzer, as the teams met on the court to exchange congratulations, Robert Horry walked straight to the tunnel -- the only member of this rivalry to lose this series two consecutive years.
As the evening grew late and the Lakers clung to a modest lead, the Spurs' desperation bled into Popovich's game plan. Hack-a-Shaq defense made its series debut with 3:39 left in the game when Horry wrapped up O'Neal in the lane.
Moments later, O'Neal corralled a defensive rebound and Devin Brown launched himself at O'Neal's midsection before the center could take a step. Parker was next, fouling O'Neal at the 3:06 mark.
O'Neal made the first two free throws, missed three of the next four, then finished with a flourish. With 2:48 remaining, he sunk two, each time leaving his right hand up in the shooter's pose for effect.
The Lakers led 79-70. The Spurs ceased the Hack-a-Shaq. And they never recovered from it.
Still, there were anxious moments down the stretch. Horry had three chances to hit momentum-changing 3-pointers -- the kind that defined his career on this very court -- but he missed all three. And 18,997 former Horry fans sighed with relief each time.
San Antonio took its final lead, 58-57, with 10:53 to play. Bryant took the lead back with two free throws, and Game 5 hero Derek Fisher followed with a 3-pointer. The building grew loud and louder still as Duncan missed two free throws. The Spurs went quietly from there.
"I told the players after the ballgame that it was quite an accomplishment to beat this team four straight games," coach Phil Jackson said. "I still believe that this team is coming together as a basketball team. Each critical game like this builds some more confidence in them, and the experience solidifies them as a group. And that's the way it has to be in the championship run."
Pacers 94, Heat 83
Jeff Foster had 20 points and 16 rebounds, both career highs, as the Indiana Pacers cruised to a 94-83 home win over the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Pacers lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and can wrap up the series when it resumes with Game Six in Miami tomorrow.
Top seeded in the East, Indiana survived a poor first quarter before rolling to the victory, the fifth straight for the home team in this series.
"I thought we played a good game," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said.
"We had some struggles early on, but we had a lot of guys step up. Jeff Foster played a critical role."
Miami led 21-19 after one quarter, but the Pacers grabbed a five-point lead by the half before pulling away in the third quarter, out-scoring the Heat 29-16.
Jermaine O'Neal led all scorers with 22 points, while Ron Artest added 14 points and veteran leader Reggie Miller chipped in with 13.
"This Miami Heat team is really pushing us," Miller said.
"We're going to have to bring our 'A' game to win down there."
Dwayne Wade had 16 points and 10 assists to lead the Heat, which had six players in double-figures in scoring.
Eddie Jones scored 15 points for Miami, while Lamar Odom had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
"I obviously did not have our team prepared to play a big Game Five today," Miami coach Stan Van Gundy said.
"We were pathetic defensively today. I have to take responsibility for that."
The Pacers out-rebounded the Heat 47-30 and shot 51.4 percent from the field.
The Heat has won 18 consecutive home games, including all six in the post-season, and will have to continue that streak to stay alive in the series.
The Pacers, who led the NBA with 61 wins in the regular season, won by double-digits at home for the third time in this series, but the Heat are confident on their home court.
"We want to go down there and just give ourselves a chance to win the game," Artest said.
"We didn't do that the last time down there."
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