NBA.COM SCORING POINTS WITH FANS.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

There will be scores of NBA fans with a television remote control in one hand and a computer mouse in the other Wednesday night when the championship series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Jersey Nets resumes.

But a computer mouse instead of a beer can?

Yes, it seems that increasing numbers of Internet savvy viewers are linking up to NBA.com, a Web site run by NBA Entertainment that is averaging 1.5 million visitors per day. Users sign on to the free service for up-to-the minute statistics during the game, vote in instant polls, or participate in online chats with the likes of NBA commentator Bill Walton or actor Matt Damon.

``When Matt Damon went online to chat during Game 1, it was mentioned on the air (during the NBC telecast) and we had an immediate spike in traffic that lasted throughout the game,'' said Brenda Spoonmore, vice president of Interactive Services for NBA Entertainment.

NBA.com made its debut in 1995 and has grown in popularity to such a degree that after the final game of the championship series this month, fans will have an unprecedented opportunity to vote online for the series MVP. Their votes will figure into the ultimate selection process, Spoonmore said.

During Friday's Game 2, two NBA.com technicians sat high above the rafters at Staples Center busily typing into laptop computers. They were anticipating a busy night but nothing like two nights before when Damon held a courtside online chat with fans during halftime.

``It was funny because after Damon finished his chat, we had all kinds of fans writing in with more questions and wanting more time with Matt,'' said Evan Silverman, NBA.com's director of Internet Services.

Damon had confessed to fans that he was not actually typing in his replies, explaining that he was not a good typist. The actor was being a good sport because on that night, logistical limitations required that he verbally answer the questions to an NBA.com staffer who then typed them.

While Damon's participation was planned in advance, other famous faces such as Carson Daly, Ice Cube, Evander Holyfield and Jerry Rice have been last-minute guests.

``Sometimes, we just grab someone,'' Silverman said.

But for the hard-core fan, the real lure to the site is the GameStats Live element of NBA.com. Fans get live scores, box scores, up-to-the-minute information such as which players are on the court, how many points they have scored and fouls they have.

The site experienced its biggest spike ever - 2 million page usages per hour - from the fourth quarter through overtime during the riveting Game 7 of the Western Conference finals between the Lakers and the Sacramento Kings.

As the site has gained in popularity, it has steadily increased its features. For example, during the current playoffs, NBA.com debuted a new streaming video feature that is now available after each game called ``The Run'' which showcases a key stretch that ultimately determined the outcome of the game. The four-minute chronological segments, produced by NBA Entertainment, includes commentary from broadcasters from NBA TV, the league's 24-hour network.

Also part of the Finals is NBA.cam, which allows fans to control center- court and behind-the-basket robotic cameras and capture their own in-game images. The images can be e-mailed anywhere in the world. Usage of this feature has averaged 75,000 images per game.

NBA.com has also tried to capitalize on the growing international popularity of the league due to the addition in recent years of such players as Memphis Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol of Spain and Sacramento Kings forward Hidayet Turkoglu, who is from Turkey.

Hopes are high that 7-foot-6-inch Chinese player Yao Ming will be drafted into the NBA in June and bring scores of fans from China with him.

``When those guys come into the league, we see our numbers spike up,'' Spoonmore said. ``Yao Ming could go through the roof.''

About 40 percent of the traffic on NBA.com comes from outside the United States with the most rapid growth taking place in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.

Each game during the NBA Finals has been broadcast on the site live through streaming audio in 11 languages including English, Spanish, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Mandarin), Dutch, French and Tagalog.

``Basketball is the second most popular sport internationally (behind soccer),'' Spoonmore said. ``The Internet is a great litmus test for us to see exactly where people are coming from when they come onto our site and where they go once they get there. We can see trends and hear from fans before other parts of our business can.''

This instant market research has been helpful to all aspects of NBA Entertainment, which also produces seven different television shows for various networks such as ``NBA Inside Stuff'' on NBC Saturday mornings and ``NBA Matchup'' which airs Sundays on ESPN.

``We are really taking pains to integrate NBA.com into our other businesses,'' Spoonmore said. ``We speak directly to the fan.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Randy Kim, left, and Evan Silverman sit high above the court at Staples Center programming data for NBA.com before Game 2 of the Finals on Friday.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) Actor Matt Damon, right, answers questions during an online chat on NBA.com during Game 1 of the Lakers-Nets Finals.

Scott Quintard/NBAE/Getty Images