DESPITE THEIR OT LOSS, LAKERS ARE UNSCATHED SPURS SECURE FOURTH SEED IN WEST WITH VICTORY SAN ANTONIO 103, LAKERS 98.Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer SAN ANTONIO San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. - Tuck this one away for safekeeping Safekeeping The storage of assets or other items of value in a protected area. Notes: Individuals may use self-directed methods of safekeeping or the services of a bank or brokerage firm. . For a scorching scorch v. scorched, scorch·ing, scorch·es v.tr. 1. To burn superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. Texas afternoon in May. For the seemingly inevitable reunion in the second round of the playoffs. For a time when the stakes are much,much higher, every man is playing, and playing to win no matter what. For now, just file it alongside presidential campaign promises and the last five seasons of ``Saturday Night Live'' - under the heading of ``Items of Dubious Relevance.'' The Lakers played hard, if not always at full strength Wednesday, in a game they wanted to win, but even more so, wanted to survive intact. For the most part, they did, even if they seemed a little worse off after losing a 103-98 overtime game to the San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and are the current NBA Champions after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2007 NBA Finals. at the Alamodome. With nothing to gain in the regular-season finale, the Lakers rested Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). for most of the game, played the entire fourth with only one starter (Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. ) on the floor, put the game in the hands of rookies John Celestand John Celestand (born March 6, 1977 in Houston, Texas) is an American former professional basketball player. Celestand was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 30 overall pick of the 1999 NBA Draft, as a 6'4" shooting guard out of Villanova University. and Devean George Devean Jamar George (born August 29 1977 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. He typically plays small forward but because of his athleticism and defensive activity, can defend many shooting guards as well. and frittered away a 17-point lead. And didn't care enough to stress over it. ``I think it was just a fun game for us to go out and play and have guys like Devean and John Celestand play, who really haven't played all season long,'' said Kobe Bryant, who scored a team-high 23 points. ``We just kind of wanted to relax and not get injured. Have (Ron) Harper sit his old behind down. Just get ready for Saturday or Sunday, whenever we play.'' ``Sure, we wanted to win the game,'' coach Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. said. ``No doubt about it. That second unit had a 17-point lead there in the fourth quarter. So I felt like it was their responsibility to take it home.'' O'Neal, who scored 22 points in 32 minutes, had his right shoulder wrenched by David Robinson David Robinson or Dave Robinson is a name shared by the following individuals:
The Spurs, playing without injured Tim Duncan Timothy "Tim" Theodore Duncan (born April 25 1976 in Christiansted, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands)[1] is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6'11" (2. (injured knee), also scaled back the minutes of Robinson (knee), Mario Elie Mario Antoine Elie (born November 26 1963 in New York City, United States) is a former professional basketball player and coach. Currently, he works for the Houston Rockets as a post-game analyst. Elie, an American of Haitian heritage, grew up in New York City. and Avery Johnson, but had much more on the line: The victory lifted them into the fourth seed and gave them homecourt advantage over Phoenix in their first-round series. ``More was at stake for us,'' Elie said. ``Our guys outplayed theirs.'' Oddly, as the Lakers capped the second-best season in franchise history (67-15), they also concluded with two straight losses - just the third time that's happened all season. ``No problem,'' Jackson declared. ``Not even a consideration. We just go through - these last two games were addendas.'' George's 3-pointer with 29.9 seconds left in regulation tied the score at 89, leading to overtime. Jackson sent O'Neal, Robert Horry, and Brian Shaw back on the floor to join Bryant and George, and it appeared the Lakers were going for the win. But the Lakers quickly fell behind and trailed 99-91 when Robinson again applied a hard foul, and O'Neal responded with a right elbow to his chest, sending the Spurs center crashing to the floor. O'Neal drew a technical foul, the Spurs sent in Felton Spencer for Robinson, and Jackson - sensing a game out of hand and perhaps out of control - pulled O'Neal for good. ``I didn't like the sequence that happened before,'' Jackson said. ``So I just eliminated any problems; I took Shaq out.'' O'Neal, who clinched his second career scoring title, left without speaking to reporters. The loss left the Lakers winless in their last five trips to the Alamodome, dating to February 1999, and gave the Spurs the distinction of being the only team to win a season series from the Lakers (3-1) this season. A mental edge for the Spurs if these two meet again in the conference semifinals? ``I hope they think so,'' Rick Fox said. But it was of little concern to the Lakers. ``We're going to have to beat them if we see them here,'' Fox said. ``So for the most part you don't want to end on two losses, but it's happened. And we've had a good 82-game stretch, and now the real games that count come up now this weekend.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos, chart Photo: (1 -- color) San Antonio's David Robinson shoots over the Lakers' A.C. Green during Wednesday night's game in the Alamodome. (2) Devean George dunks with authority over David Robinson. Edward A Ornelas/Associated Press |
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