Spurs Get Mad, Then Get Going

David Robinson found the fight he was looking for.

Forced to patrol the low post alone when the game got too physical for Tim Duncan, Robinson scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs wrapped up their first-round series against Minnesota with a hard-fought 92-85 victory Saturday.

“What their physicality did was it really pushed Duncan off the block. It compressed our perimeter guys in the post. And it was too crowded for him to do anything,” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said. “That’s why you saw us go to David so much tonight. And David came up huge, he was a monster.”

Robinson and Joe Smith, two of the league’s most mild-mannered players, tangled just before halftime, and Mario Elie, who was in the trainer’s room for stitches above his right eye thanks to an Anthony Peeler elbow, was whooping and hollering.

“I was watching that on TV and I said, ‘Is that David Robinson on our team ready to fight?’ ” Elie said. “I love that. David’s got to show some emotion. You know guys can’t just bully him around. This guy’s got pride and he’s strong.

“It was good to see him react like that,” Elie said. “A guy threatens your manhood and you’ve got to step up. That’s what Dave did and it sort of got him fired up and he came out and had a terrific second half for us.”

Robinson was hesitant to discuss it.

“It’s the playoffs, let’s put it that way, it’s playoff time,” Robinson said. “I responded the way I needed to.”

The Spurs, the top seed in the Western Conference, won the series, 3-1, by taking Games 3 and 4 at Target Center, where Robinson had 17 points and 18 rebounds Thursday night. They will play the Lakers next, beginning Monday.

Avery Johnson, who added 17 points, said the Spurs are no longer pushovers, thanks to the free-agent acquisitions of Elie and Jerome Kersey.

“We’re a different Spurs team,” said Avery Johnson, who had 17 points. “The old Spurs would have lost a game like this.”

Still, Minnesota trailed only 82-81 with four minutes left before Sean Elliott and Duncan sank two foul shots around a Robinson dunk for an 88-81 lead.

Terrell Brandon scored a season-best 27 points and Kevin Garnett added 20 for the Timberwolves, who shot only 20 free throws compared to San Antonio’s 42.

The game took a violent turn late in the first half. Peeler put a deep cut above Elie’s right eye with a foul with 3:37 left, Robinson and Smith tangled with 1:14 left, Peeler and Will Perdue picked up flagrant fouls and Perdue and Tom Hammonds drew a double technical.

Most of the fussing and fighting went on while Elie was getting stitches after accepting Peeler’s apology.

The Spurs, who led, 44-42, at halftime and 64-63 after three quarters, outscored the Timberwolves, 32-16, from the foul line.