NBA PLAYOFFS : Spurs Finally Find the Road to Success : Western Conference: Robinson takes command and San Antonio rallies for a 107-102 victory, cutting Houston’s lead to 2-1.

Hey, everybody! Looks who’s here! It’s the Spurs!

Missing in inaction the first two games of the Western Conference finals, with the most timid superstar in the league leading them down the wrong path, San Antonio joined the party Friday night. That it was held at someone else’s house made it all the better, this 107-102 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 3 before 16,611 at the Summit.

The Spurs, behind 29 points from David Robinson and 20 points and 13 assists from Avery Johnson, cut Houston’s lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-1. But it meant so much more. They got the one they had to have, more for the sake of morale and sanity.

“Their self-esteem and confidence will now start to get stronger,” Coach Bob Hill said of his team.

That says a lot about where the Spurs were at as they made the 200-mile trip east from San Antonio to Houston. They had been unprepared mentally for the first two games, a staggering comment considering they had spent the previous eight months readying for moments like this.

Even more profound was the play of Robinson, which could best be described as timid, especially Wednesday in Game 2. When the Spurs skipped a workout the next day in favor of a clear-the-air team meeting, it was the league’s most valuable player, of all people, who got put in his place.

Robinson was shooting 42.9% in the series largely because he was not going hard to the basket, thus the numerous misses in Game 1 as he opted for three-foot shots that went astray instead of dunks. The three blocked shots in two games were an indication that he had become a non-factor inside on defense.

So they talked. Then they played.

“All it boils down to is, are you going to come out on the floor and do the things you need to win?” Robinson said. “We had to search ourselves.”

The Spurs as a whole got back into their transition game and finally sprang Vinny Del Negro, who had been stalled by his inability to create in half-court sets, for some jumpers in the flow. He finished with 19 points, a big contribution.

Johnson, meanwhile, was back after suffering a sprained right ankle Wednesday that limited him to 21 minutes. Before Game 3, he told Hill he needed to go at least 40 minutes or the joint would freeze up.

Johnson went 41 with a soft cast. He did not commit a turnover.

“We were overdue for a performance,” Hill said, “and we got one.”

Said Johnson: “I thought we got the edge back tonight.”

They did from the start, watching the Rockets shoot 56.1% in the first half but feeling fine about it since the deficit was only nine, at 61-52. Even when Houston went ahead by 11 early in the third quarter, threatening to the turn the game--and the series--into a runaway, the Spurs did not whither.

In fact, that’s when they stepped forward. Johnson made a 14-foot shot and Sean Elliott followed with one of his three three-point baskets. Robinson and Del Negro each made consecutive baskets.

Suddenly, with 5:07 left in the quarter, the Spurs had a 13-0 run and a 68-66 lead, all part of a stretch in which they scored on 11 of 12 possessions to move ahead, 77-72.

Midway through the fourth quarter, it was 89-89. San Antonio came through with one more surge, this time to make it 98-91 with 3:33 remaining, then 101-94 with 1:36 showing. The Rockets were forced to foul and, save for the three-point shot by Hakeem Olajuwon in the final minute, they were done.

“We stayed aggressive and got to the foul line a bunch--32 times,” Hill said. “That’s when we were playing Spur basketball. It’s about time.”

As if he needed to tell anyone.

“I think it helps our confidence a whole lot,” said Elliott, who had 21 points. “The way they [the Rockets] had been playing, it would break anyone’s confidence.”

Houston finished at 48.8%, though the Rockets were hurt by getting to the line only 13 times. Olajuwon finished with 43 points (on 19-of-32 shooting) and 11 rebounds, the fourth time he has topped 40 in the playoffs. Clyde Drexler contributed 21 points and nine rebounds.

Dennis Rodman, benched by Hill for most of the second half in Game 2, played 37 minutes and grabbed 14 rebounds.