A CRITICAL TURNING POINT LAKERS LOSE GAME 1 AND LIKELY GEORGE SAN ANTONIO 87, LAKERS 82.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO - Another ankle turned, and perhaps a series and a championship defense turned with it. Bit by bit, tendon by tendon, the Lakers are watching their shot at history fade.

Rick Fox checked out of the playoffs nine days ago, and the Lakers clung to the belief they still could wring a fourth consecutive championship with what they had.

Then Devean George, his replacement, collapsed on the baseline here late Monday night, and everything got a little bleaker.

The Lakers lost their conference semifinals opener 87-82 to the San Antonio Spurs at SBC Center, lost George for an undetermined period with a severe ankle sprain and might have lost the ability to squeeze out another 12 wins this spring.

Manu Ginobili had picked Brian Shaw at the top of the arc and was sprinting downcourt for the layup. George retreated quickly, met him at the basket and the two collided in midair. Ginobili landed on George, who screamed and clutched his left ankle as he fell to the floor.

X-rays were negative. George's status was unknown.

A pained look crossed Fox's face on the bench as he looked over at his fallen replacement. Shaquille O'Neal pulled together his teammates for a quick speech as they came out of the timeout, then led the charge as they knocked a 10-point deficit down to one.

But the Spurs pulled away behind a 3-pointer from Ginobili, a fast-break dunk by Bruce Bowen and free throws by Duncan and David Robinson, pushing the lead back to eight points.

Kobe Bryant hit consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 85-82, but he couldn't deliver on the next two possessions - stepping out of bounds in the corner on the first, misfiring a 3-pointer on the next.

In the scrum for the loose ball, Robert Horry ended up smacking Robinson in the groin, drawing a technical foul and nearly setting off a fight.

Tony Parker hit the technical free throw for a four-point lead with 9.9 seconds left, and Robinson made one more free throw to seal the victory.

O'Neal, bent on punishing the Spurs after watching Duncan take the MVP trophy before the game, scored 24 points and collected 21 rebounds. But he fouled out with 3:26 to go, leaving the Lakers down three key players for the stretch.

Bryant scored a game-high 37 points but went 16 for 38 from the field.

Duncan scored 28 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. Ginobili finished with 15 points.

The Lakers failed to score 20 points in any of the first three quarters, and by the start of the fourth had earned just nine trips to the foul line and had committed 15 turnovers. Their bench had been outscored 18-0.

But the Spurs couldn't break 35 percent from the field, missed more than half their free throws and settled for a modest eight-point lead heading into the final period.

Commissioner David Stern, armed with the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, met Duncan at midcourt just before tipoff, and the building roared. Fifty feet away, O'Neal sat on the Lakers' bench, expressionless. Bryant sat five seats to his left while the rest of the team stood.

As Duncan accepted the award, Bryant stood and clapped a few times. O'Neal remained seated, stroking his chin, tugging at his wristband, retying his shoes, while the fans broke into an ``MVP'' chant.

A few minutes later, O'Neal lined up Duncan under the hoop and dunked on his head. Podoloff this.

Properly motivated, O'Neal hopped off the bench and demanded the ball. His teammates complied and O'Neal had 10 points and eight rebounds by the end of the first quarter. But he cooled quickly, and the Lakers posted their lowest-scoring quarter (16 points) and half (35) of this postseason.

Bryant, eager to test defensive specialist Bowen, shot 19 times in the half and misfired on 13 of them.

The Lakers thrived at the old Alamodome but went 0-2 this season at SBC Center, a metallic box Bryant derided as a ``barn,'' with a labyrinthian interior that made Jackson wonder what the point was.

``The architect should be sued or fined,'' he said.

GAME 2

Lakers at San Antonio

When: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.

TV/Radio: TNT, 570-AM

CAPTION(S):

14 photos, 6 boxes, chart

Photo:

(1) SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

(2) KOBE BRYANT

(3) DEREK FISHER

(4) ROBERT HORRY

(5) DEVEAN GEORGE

(6) MARK MADSEN

(7) TIM DUNCAN

(8) DAVID ROBINSON

(9) STEPHEN JACKSON

(10) TONY PARKER

(11) BRUCE BOWEN

(12) EMANUEL GINOBILI

(13 -- color) The Lakers' Kobe Bryant, center, encounters Spurs Bruce Bowen, left, and David Robinson as he goes up for a shot in the second quarter Monday. Bryant scored a game-high 37 points.

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

(14) Spurs forward Tim Duncan tries to keep the ball away from Lakers' Kobe Bryant, right, in the second quarter.

Eric Gay/Associated Press

Box:

(1) STORY LINES

(2) LAKERS REPORT CARD

(3) SAN ANTONIO REPORT CARD

(4) QUARTER-BY-QUARTER

(5) A CLOSER LOOK

(6) LAKERS vs. SAN ANTONIO: Spurs lead best-of-seven series 1-0

Chart:

NUMBERS GAME