San Antonio Spurs Basketball Team

NO. 1 LAKERS vs. NO. 3 SAN ANTONIO Season series: 2-2. Buzz: Don't we know you guys from somewhere? For the sixth time since 1999, the Lakers and Spurs are meeting in the playoffs and three of them -- Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher -- have been around for all of them. The Lakers have won three (2001, 2002, 2004) of the series and the Spurs two (1999, 2003).

By now, you've surely read about our happy Lakers family enjoying dinner together while watching the seventh game of the other Western Conference semifinal Monday night. What you didn't read was any mention of cheering. That's because, I'm guessing, there wasn't any. The wrong team won, and they know it. The bad guys are here, and they hate it. In the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers are playing the only Western Conference team they privately feel is capable of beating them in a seven-game series.

For defending NBA champions, the outcome of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals was very un-defending NBA champion-like. The Lakers punched. The Spurs recoiled. The Lakers were the aggressors. The Spurs reeled away. The Lakers jammed the ball inside. The Spurs drifted outside for jumpers. The Spurs' 20-point third-quarter lead disappeared because of it. Very un-champion-like indeed. "Obviously a difficult loss and we had a great opportunity," Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said.

SAN ANTONIO -- Dynasties don't die that easily. The San Antonio Spurs didn't like what they saw in their near future, so they dipped into the past with an effort that made the Lakers hem and haw at every juncture. It was the type of game that has brought the Spurs four championship parades since 1999, an aggressive mix that led to a 103-84 victory Sunday in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. The Lakers shot 42.

SAN ANTONIO -- Left reeling from two frustrating Western Conference finals games, San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili started performing as he had done throughout the regular season by wheeling and dealing. He scored eight points in the second half. Not much of a footnote as the Spurs had already pulled away by then in Sunday's Game 3. It was the first half in which Ginobili, who has taken on a bigger scoring load for the Spurs this season, did his real damage.

Question: It must be a heavy load indeed to be anointed as "great" by the media before you've proved anything. I hate to disappoint the media guys who need heroes like radio needed the Lone Ranger, but this is a real series between two teams that could each win it. The Lakers only really have one guy, Kobe, who can take over a game . . . and his playoff pedigree was earned beside a guy who gets his fast food in Phoenix now. The Spurs have three [great players].

SAN ANTONIO -- The Spurs may be old, but they don't appear to be aging. The league's eldest team whipped back into shape in Game 3, winning in dominating fashion over the Lakers and gaining some needed traction heading into Game 4. The Spurs lost a couple of games in Los Angeles, but they still have their confidence and swagger. "To be honest with you, we never lost it," point guard Tony Parker said. "We just lost two games. . . .

SAN ANTONIO -- New era starts here. Meet the new boss, the Lakers, not the same as the old boss, the Spurs, who just got official notice that their days are numbered, if not over. Tuesday night's 93-91 Lakers victory was anything but artistic -- they gave up five points of a seven-point lead in the last 42 seconds and needed a non-call on the last play -- but it was a win, nonetheless, giving them a stranglehold 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

SAN ANTONIO -- The events of Tuesday night weren't as indelible as the renowned "0.4" shot, but Derek Fisher was in the thick of another improbable victory against San Antonio. The Lakers were leading, barely, in an ever-tightening fourth quarter when Fisher called the other four starters to the side after a timeout. His forceful delivery conveyed a simple message: We're not coming back here for Game 6.

SAN ANTONIO -- Yes, it was a foul. No, it didn't matter. Let's get this straight once and for all, before anyone goes into the summer thinking that Tuesday's clock-mangling, late-wilting Lakers were also lucky. They weren't. The blown call on the final play of the 93-91 Lakers victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals simply evened out the blown call of a few seconds earlier. Yes, Derek Fisher clearly fouled Brent Barry before his final three-point attempt.