LAKERS CHANGE FOR THE BETTER GET BIG ROAD WIN OVER SAN ANTONIO LAKERS 100, S.A. 96.

Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO -- By the end of Wednesday night's game, the Lakers could be forgiven for feeling as if the championship banners hanging at one end of AT&T Center were reminders of how quickly life in the NBA can change.

It was only two seasons ago that the San Antonio Spurs beat the Lakers all four times they played on the way to their third NBA title. All the Lakers could do was count ping-pong balls in advance of the draft lottery after finishing 34-48.

Those memories were all but forgotten as the Lakers came into the building where the Spurs once were invincible and left with a 100-96 victory.

Now the Lakers sit only a half-game behind the Spurs in the standings with a 26-13 record.

The Lakers built a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, gave it all back in a matter of 41/2 minutes and recovered in time to take their most significant road victory of the season. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 34 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

``They're all good on the road, they're all golden,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ``You value a road win, especially against a team like this that's a really experienced ballclub.''

Then Jackson borrowed a line from ``Pulp Fiction'' -- though definitely not verbatim with television cameras present -- and downplayed his young team's success in the next breath.

``You know that line in the movie about, `Let's not start patting each other on the back quite yet,''' Jackson said. ``That's one of those things. We just think that San Antonio's a little bit hurt, they're playing a little bit down. We caught a team that didn't shoot the ball very well down the stretch. We're happy for the win, but we're not going to crown ourselves yet.''

The Lakers led by seven points with four minutes to play but came undone with one mistake after another. Manu Ginobili stole a pass and took it in for a dunk. Bryant got caught in the air and had the ball poked out of his hands by Bruce Bowen.

Jackson checked Andrew Bynum back in and watched as his teenage center fouled out immediately. Brent Barry stepped up to take a charge in the lane against Bynum, though replays showed Barry had a foot in the restricted area.

The Spurs led 91-90 with 2:54 to play after two free throws by Ginobili. That was before Bryant finally freed himself from the double teams the Spurs sent throughout the fourth quarter and hit the game's biggest shot.

He drained a hanging 16-footer over Bowen to put the Lakers ahead 94-92 with 1:24 remaining. Tony Parker threw away a pass at the other end, and Maurice Evans earned a trip to the foul line by chasing down the loose ball. Ginobili missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 33.9 seconds left, and Ronny Turiaf banked in a shot with 9.9 seconds to play.

``I think we grew up a lot tonight, because down the stretch we almost let this game slip away because they raised up their intensity level,'' Bryant said. ``What we learned is we have to tighten up, we have to play even sharper as the game goes on.''

If the Lakers were going to come to San Antonio only once this season, they certainly made it memorable. They went 0-4 against the Spurs in 2004-05 after the Shaquille O'Neal trade and just 1-3 last season.

But they clinched the series season against the Western Conference standard bearers with Wednesday's victory. It was the Spurs' seventh loss at home already this season.

``We feel that we should be playing at this level,'' Luke Walton said. ``I think that's a sign of maturity and our team growing that we expect to win these games.''

Although he went to the bench with two fouls in the opening 3:30, Bryant kept the Lakers in the game by scoring 17 points and hitting seven of nine shots when he returned for the second quarter.

He supplied the night's highlight with 6:59 left in the third quarter, beating Bowen on a drive and throwing down a monster one-handed dunk over Tim Duncan. Barely a minute later, Bryant finished an alley-oop pass from Smush Parker with another dunk.

The Lakers went on an 18-2 run that bridged the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters. Vladimir Radmanovic (13 points) made the biggest contribution, burying two 3-pointers to close the third and driving for a baseline dunk in the fourth.

``That was a big difference in the ballgame,'' Jackson said of Radmanovic, who made 5 of 7 shots and all three 3-pointers.

The Lakers started out this three-game trip having to deal with travel difficulties as an ice storm paralyzed this city. They arrived without incident Tuesday but had to make special plans in the hopes of departing after the game.

With the airport having run out of de-icer, the Lakers had to fly a plane in from Dallas in the hopes of leaving afterward for tonight's game against the Mavericks. Their own charter jet stayed grounded, even as the team was flying high.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Lakers guard Kobe Bryant takes a shot against SanAntonio's Bruce Bowen in the first quarter.

Eric Gay/Associated Press

(2) Luke Walton, center, drives between Tim Duncan, left, and Manu Ginobil.

Box:

LAKERS at DALLAS

-- Ross Siler