By John Nadel
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES ó One game ó thatís all it was. And itís on to Game 2.
That was the San Antonio Spursí attitude Thursday in the wake of their blown opportunity in the opener of the Western Conference finals.
iTheyíre up 1-0. The important thing for us is to not let the game linger,î San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said at the teamís hotel in suburban Santa Monica some 141/2 hours after the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 20-point deficit for an 89-85 triumph over the Spurs.
Game 2 will be played Friday night at Staples Center, where the Lakers havenít lost since March 28. The best-of-seven series then shifts to San Antonio for the third and fourth games.
iItís huge, obviously,î San Antonio point guard Tony Parker said. iWe donít want to go down 0-2 because itís very difficult to come back. But we did come back.î
Entering the conference finals, only 14 of the 222 teams to fall behind 2-0 in best-of-seven NBA playoff series have won, including the Spurs in their second-round matchup with New Orleans.
iWeíre down one game ó thatís all,î said Tim Duncan, who had 30 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots in a losing cause. iOur goal is to get to four (wins). A lot of credit goes to them. Obviously, they played excellent. They came back at us. Kobe (Bryant) took it over.î
The Spurs shot 3-for-21 and committed five turnovers while being outscored 24-13 in the fourth quarter. The Lakers outscored the defending NBA champions 44-20 to finish the game. Bryant had 23 of those points, including 14 in the final period, when he outscored San Antonio by himself.
iWeíre very pleased overall with what we did defensively,î Popovich said. iOur problem was we have to keep scoring, and we didnít last night.î
Popovich bristled when the advancing age of the Spurs was brought up as a possible connection to the loss.
iWhen we win, weíre the experienced team. When we lose, weíre older than dirt,î he said. iThatís just silly. Sometimes people donít make shots. We can do some things better.î
Duncan scored eight of his teamís 13 fourth-quarter points. Bruce Bowen made a 3-pointer and Manu Ginobili added two free throws while Parker went scoreless after scoring 18 in the first three periods.
iPoor decision-making,î Duncan said. iWe turned the ball over, got shots late in the clock, things we can clean up.î
While the Lakers expressed satisfaction with the comeback victory, several said they didnít believe it will have an impact on the rest of the series, either.
iTheyíll make adjustments, they know what to do. They have a lot of weapons,î Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. iTheyíre here to win one.î