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One of my favorites game ever
TD was a monster in this one
Duncan, Parker shoot down defending champs
Game Leaders San Antonio Los Angeles
Points T. Duncan 37 S. O'Neal 31
Rebounds T. Duncan 16 S. O'Neal 10
Assists T. Parker 5 K. Bryant 6
Steals M. Ginobili 3 J. Pargo 2
Blocks T. Duncan 2 S. O'Neal 3
Team rosters: San Antonio | Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kobe Bryant left the court in tears as the three-year championship reign of the Los Angeles Lakers came to a decisive end.
"I hate this feeling, I don't ever want to feel it again,'' Bryant said Thursday night after a 110-82 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs, the last team other than Los Angeles to win an NBA le, had been ousted by the Lakers in each of the past two seasons.
"We've been put down by these guys the last couple of years,'' Tim Duncan said after getting 37 points and 16 rebounds to lead the wipeout. "More than ending their reign, that felt a lot better -- ending their season and going on.''
Tony Parker, who turns 21 Saturday, added 27 points for the Spurs, who scored 44 of the game's final 62 points.
The Lakers were the league's best in 2000, '01 and '02 -- but they won't join the Boston Celtics as the only NBA teams to win more than three straight championships. The Celtics won eight straight from 1959-66.
The Lakers had won 13 straight playoff series under coach Phil Jackson, and were 4-0 under Jackson when facing elimination.
In this one, though, they were tired and beat-up -- and out of contention by midway through the fourth quarter.
The last team to eliminate the Lakers from the playoffs was San Antonio, which swept them in the 1999 conference semifinals en route to its only championship. The Lakers hired Jackson shortly thereafter.
The Lakers swept the Spurs in the 2001 conference finals, beating them by 39 and 29 points in the last two games. And the Lakers eliminated the Spurs in five games in the conference semifinals last year.
Jackson-coached teams had won a record 25 consecutive playoff series dating to 1996, and his nine les are tied for the most in NBA history with former Boston coach Red Auerbach.
There won't be a 10th -- at least not until next year.
"They left no doubt about the fact that they were the better team in this series,'' said Jackson, who underwent an angioplasty to unblock an artery last Saturday. "We're severely disappointed we couldn't make a run for the championship.
"We've had a great run, we've had great play. We've gotten a little bit older, we had some injuries, we had a tough year.''
The Lakers overcame an 11-19 start to finish 50-32 and were seeded fifth in the West. The Spurs (60-22) have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
"We finally played the defense in the second half that got us to this point,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Regarding the Lakers, Popovich said: "I've been amazed at what they've done. They've been great, they are great.''
Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 31 points and 10 rebounds. He was removed with 4:34 remaining and the Spurs leading 98-76.
"It's very, very disappointing,'' O'Neal said. "We've been celebrating the last three years, and we would have liked to have gotten it this year. But it's been an unusual year. It was kind of a different team and a different feel out there.
"We had an unbelievable run. Ever since Phil came, we've been enjoying nothing but success, and this is the first time we're not feeling success.''
Bryant added 20 points and didn't take the loss well. Derek Fisher also left the court in tears.
"It's just tough to lose, man. We haven't experienced this feeling in three years. They executed extremely well. That's an excellent ballclub over there,'' Bryant said.
During a timeout with 2:26 left, the Staples Center crowd stood and applauded the Lakers, who trailed by 25 points at that point.
Duncan, who finished 16-for-25 from the field, scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to give the Spurs an 82-69 lead. A basket by Manu Ginobili made it 84-70 with 10:07 remaining.
Ginobili's 3-pointer with 8:09 remaining made it 91-74, and the Lakers were through.
"We didn't want to take it to seven with these guys,'' Duncan said. "We did not want to let up at all. We just wanted to play it all the way through to the end.''
Perhaps that's because of what happened in Game 5, when the Spurs blew almost all of a 25-point lead before holding on for a 96-94 victory.
"This'll really sound crazy; what happened was the best medicine yet,'' Popovich said before the game. "We won by the skin of our teeth. I think our players are coming in here with some appropriate fear.''
The Spurs advanced to the Western Conference finals to face Dallas or Sacramento. The series begins Monday night.
"It matters not,'' said David Robinson, playing his final season. "We're just excited to be moving to that next level.''
San Antonio led by only two points after a basket by O'Neal with 4:43 left in the third quarter, but Duncan scored eight points in a 10-0 run that made it 76-64, and it was 78-69 entering the final period.
Duncan and Parker scored the last 20 points of the third period and the first four of the fourth.
O'Neal fouled Duncan twice in a span of 66 seconds, giving the Lakers' big man four fouls and a seat on the bench with three minutes remaining in the third period. That was the beginning of the end.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=230515013
typical Manu at the 9:50 mark
One of my favorites game ever
TD was a monster in this one
you know whats funny is we beat the mavs after them
great ing championship mix
That's 'bout all I gots to say about that . . .
Can we haz that Duncan back now plz
Brad Nessler >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mike Breen
Greatest Spurs win of all time.
2003 Duncan
LOS ANGELES, May 15 (Ticker) -- A steady diet of Tim Duncan was the recipe the San Antonio Spurs used to end the reign of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Duncan collected 37 points and 16 rebounds as the Spurs never trailed after the game's first minute and cruised to a 110-82 rout, ending the run of the three-time defending champion Lakers.
San Antonio won the series in six games and advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three years. The Spurs will face Dallas or Sacramento.
"Tim Duncan is a fantastic compe or, as we all know," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "But I thought in Game 5 and Game 6, he was astounding in his focus. He pulled everyone along these last two games."
San Antonio was the last team to defeat the Lakers in the postseason, sweeping them in the semifinals in the Spurs' 1999 championship season. The win also snapped Los Angeles' run of 13 straight playoff series triumphs.
"I thought, for the most part of the series, we really controlled the tempo, we did a lot of good things," Spurs center David Robinson said. "They just showed a lot of heart. They fought us tooth and nail. We've just been playing so well lately, even on the road."
Los Angeles, which needed just nine games to eliminate San Antonio in the last two postseasons, was thoroughly outplayed down the stretch. Shaquille O'Neal went to the bench with 4:34 remaining and the Lakers trailing, 98-76. It was an ignominious end for a team seeking to become the first to win four straight les since the Boston Celtics won eight straight from 1959-66.
"The Spurs were better," O'Neal said. "We beat them the past two years. We knew what they were capable of. The Spurs were the team this year."
Duncan demonstrated why he earned his second straight Most Valuable Player award with a virtuoso performance. He made 16-of-25 shots, setting the tone in the first quarter by making 7-of-8 shots for 15 points.
"Coming into this series, they (the Lakers) decided to let me do what I had to do and shut everybody else down," Duncan said. "It kind of came hard early on, because my shots didn't feel great early on."
"The guys that thought maybe Tim Duncan didn't deserve the MVP have changed their minds," Spurs rookie Emanuel Ginobili said. "In the clutch of important games and you play like that, you are the best."
A 10-0 tear that featured eight points from Duncan established San Antonio's first double-digit lead at 76-64 with just over one minute left in the third quarter. Tony Parker, who finished with 27 points, went coast-to-coast for a layup and a 78-69 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Parker's basket came immediately after a three-pointer by Kobe Bryant cut the Lakers' deficit to seven.
"After Kobe hit that three, I wanted to stop their run," Parker said. "I saw that opening and just went for it. That basket hurt the Lakers."
Instead of Los Angeles making a last stand, San Antonio put an exclamation point on the victory with a dominant display. The Spurs scored 10 of the first 14 points, shot 60 percent (12-of-20) in the period and limited the Lakers to just six baskets.
"They played a great second half against us that really took the air out of the building and out of the game," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They left no doubt about the fact that they were the better team in the series."
O'Neal finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds and Bryant netted 20 points for the Lakers, which did not get enough contributions from the rest of the team.
It was a surreal ending for the Lakers, who had rookies Jannero Pargo and Kareem Rush on the floor in the final moments as the Spurs stretched out the lead. Popovich actually called a timeout with 2:26 left to instruct his team not to celebrate excessively.
"I didn't think we were going to win the way we did," Spurs forward Malik Rose said. "We fully intended to come here and get it done. It was nice to have that seventh game in our hip pocket."
Those words were unnecessary for the soft-spoken Duncan, who once again did his talking with his performance. Duncan had no trouble in his matchup with Robert Horry, using an assortment of moves to exploit the smaller Horry.
Jackson saw his NBA record of 25 straight playoff series triumphs end, suffering his first loss since his Chicago Bulls lost to the Orlando Magic in six games in the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals. Jackson, who underwent an angioplasty and missed Game 4, was non-committal about his future.
"Whether I coach them or not, they'll be fine," Jackson said of the Lakers. "When you make correct decisions and do things correctly, your expectations are fulfilled, especially when you put the effort in. This year we couldn't do that, we couldn't make the correct steps."
Parker had been outplayed by Stephon Marbury in San Antonio's first-round series victory over Phoenix and was aired out by Popovich after an ill-advised shot early in the game. The second-year guard showed remarkable poise -- a quality lacking in San Antonio in stretches of this series -- and made 9-of-19 shots in outplaying Derek Fisher and Pargo.
"You have to give coach Pop a lot of credit," Parker said. "He gave me a lot of freedom. And they (the coaches) called plays to create an opportunity for me to penetrate. At times, he wanted to pull out his hair out because we were doing crazy things."
San Antonio shot 65 percent (13-of-20) in building a 29-25 lead after one quarter thanks to Duncan's early strong play. The Spurs led by as many as nine points in the second period before settling for a 54-50 edge.
A driving layup by Ginobili gave San Antonio an 84-70 lead early in the fourth quarter, prompting a timeout by Jackson. Slava Medvedenko responded with a layup, but Parker made a free throw and 40-year-old Kevin Willis outhustled a pair of Lakers for a tip-in that triggered a 15-4 run.
"Kevin Willis was at 41 running as hard as he could," Rose said. "(He was) rebounding, never quitting."
After a basket by O'Neal cut the deficit to 88-74, Ginobili and Bruce Bowen nailed a 3-pointer and Willis scored on a follow slam with 5:59 remaining, forcing Jackson to burn another timeout as the STAPLES Center began to empty. A foul shot by Ginobili made it 99-76 with 4:34 remaining.
Los Angeles shot 85 free throws in winning Games 3 and 4, but Thursday's game was a huge departure. The Lakers were just 6-of-13 from the foul line and did not have a single foul shot in the final 10 minutes.
"I'm ready to get right in the gym tonight and start getting ready for next year," Bryant said. "I don't like this feeling. I really don't. And I don't want to have this feeling ever again."
Horry epitomized the struggles of the Lakers role players by managing only two points on 1-of-6 shooting. Horry, whose potential game-winning three-point attempt in Game 5 rimmed out, missed all three from beyond the arc on Thursday and was 0-for-18 on 3-pointers in the series.
Led by Duncan, the Spurs enjoyed a 44-32 edge on the glass and scored 23 points off 14 turnovers by the Lakers. Ginobili came off the bench for 10 points for San Antonio, which made 6-of-9 shots from beyond the arc.
"What a great feeling," Rose said. "We've been working the past three seasons just to get with these guys. They had three championships, the two best players in the world and they still do. But we worked every day to get where they are."
completely missed the monster highlight of that game, K Willis' put back dunk. the house exploded when that happened. probably my favorite Spurs' win ever.
Tim had such a large arsenal of moves, it was impossible to stop him. HE was the player of the decade, not Kobe.
Break out series for Manu
Aaaawww the good ol days. Good lord Tim was an absolute monster. Impossible to guard.
wow. Duncan was INSANE.
that was the best roster the spurs ever had.
It's weird watching the Spurs with two big guys on the court at the same time
+1 on the Willis dunk..that capped it off nicely, I flipped out when that happened..
Duncan's run that year is matched by very few in NBA history..
That 2003 team was so likable..so much heart on that team..
bowen
parker
claxton
jackson
willis
robinson
kerr
manu
rose
and 3 scrubs on the bench.
Easily in my top 5 of favorite games ever.
1. 2005 Finals Game 5 - Horry for three
2. 1999 WCF Game 2 - MDM
3. 2003 Finals Game 6 - Robinson's Farewell
4. 2003 WCSF Game 6 - Dethroning the Lakers
5. 2003 WCF Game 6 - Jackson and Kerr upset the Mavs
God, that 2003 run was absolutely ridiculous.
I second that
And, to be totally self-absorbed, I was there.
Hmmm... I think your three scrubs are Ferry, Bateer, and Smith, but who's missing from this list????
Yeah, it'll be at least another 10 or 20 years before we see a 7' as great as Timmy was that season. Not one current big man could hang with Timmy that year. His footwork, handles, agility and body control were at such an elite level. Imagine how insane he would've been had he not injured his left knee??
Oh, that win comes in third for me, behind the win on May 23, 1999, when the Spurs swept the Lakers. That was officially the last game played in the legendary Great Western Forum. Timmy dropped 33 points, 14 rebounds, 1 block and 4 assists to lead the way.
This one is still my favorite Duncan performance, partly because I was at this game..too good..widely considered to be the best player in the NBA as early as his 2nd season..obviously this is now forgotten with revisionist history..
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