LAKERS PLAYOFF REPORT

THE SCHEDULE

Game 1: Tonight at San Antonio, 6:30 Channel 9, TBS

Game 2: Wednesday at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m. Channel 9, TNT

Game 3: Saturday at Lakers, 2:30 p.m.Channel 4

Game 4: Sunday at Lakers, 2:30 p.m.Channel 4

Game 5: May 25 at San Antonio, TBA *

Game 6: May 27 at Lakers, TBA *

Game 7: May 29 at San Antonio, TBA *

* if necessary

HOW THEY MATCH UP / Starters

The Lakers played the Spurs three times in the regular season but not once with Dennis Rodman, who was not signed the first two games (both Laker victories) and was long-since released when the Lakers lost by 27 points April 24. San Antonio post man Tim Duncan averaged 18.8 points and 10 rebounds in the Spurs’ 3-1 first-round victory over Minnesota and point guard Avery Johnson averaged a team-high 19.5 points and shot 59.3%. Kobe Bryant has become the Lakers’ do-everything player, averaging 18.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists in the first round.

Bench

If Glen Rice is unable to play or is limited because of his sore right elbow, it shortens the Laker bench considerably as Rick Fox, their best bench scorer, shifts to small forward and Robert Horry backs up both forward positions. In Saturday’s playoff series-clinching victory over the Rockets, backup point guard Derek Harper played as well as he had in months. The Spurs have no big scorers among their reserves, but have tough role players such as Jaren Jackson, Will Perdue and Malik Rose.

Offense

San Antonio is at its best when Johnson and Sean Elliott perk up. Johnson likes to dictate the pace, either running the fastbreak or running pick-and-rolls with Duncan or Robinson and forcing the defense to make decisions quickly. Duncan averaged 22.7 points but shot only 43.6% against the Lakers, and Robinson averaged only 12.7 points and shot 45.2%. The Lakers run everything through O’Neal, who averaged 26.7 points and almost 12 rebounds and shot 61.5% against the Spurs.

Defense

If the Spurs are going to win this, they’ll have to do it with big-time interior defense (Duncan and Robinson combined to block about five shots a game). The Lakers are a far better defensive team now than the one that the Spurs destroyed in April, and held the Rockets to only 44.1% shooting. They need J.R. Reid and Horry to continue their gutsy defensive play on the post against Duncan.

Coaching

It didn’t look pretty early, but San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich’s decision to use Robinson mostly as a rebounder and shot-blocker and turn the offense over to Duncan has made the Spurs more versatile and harder to guard. Laker Coach Kurt Rambis won his first playoff series by making solid adjustments and making sure O’Neal and Bryant were allowed to flourish.

Keys To Series

Both teams have built their end-of-season runs on confidence and momentum, and both are capable of throwing huge barriers before their opponents. But which team is most likely to get the other panicking by stealing a road victory? The Lakers have the first two shots--and Minnesota took one at the Alamodome in the first round--but watch out in Games 3 and 4 at the Great Western Forum. The Spurs are 7-3 on the road since April 8.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

PLAYOFF STATISTICS

LAKERS

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PLAYER G FG% FT% REB AST PTS O’Neal 4 .523 .456 10.3 4.0 29.5 Rice 3 .548 1.000 3.3 2.3 18.7 Bryant 4 .409 .938 7.3 5.8 18.3 Fisher 4 .444 .714 3.3 4.5 11.3 Fox 4 .367 1.000 2.5 1.0 6.5 Horry 4 .500 .750 6.5 1.5 7.0 Harper 4 .480 .750 1.8 3.3 7.0 Reid 4 .455 .833 5.8 0.5 3.8 Lue 2 1.000 -- 0.0 0.0 1.0 Rooks 4 .333 .750 0.5 0.8 1.3 Knight 2 .000 .500 1.0 0.5 0.5 Patterson 1 .000 -- 0.0 0.0 0.0 TEAM 4 .469 .636 40.8 23.3 99.3 OPP 4 .415 .763 45.8 20.5 97.0

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SPURS

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PLAYER G FG% FT% REB AST PTS Johnson 4 .593 .737 2.8 6.3 19.5 Duncan 4 .460 .773 10.8 3.3 18.8 Robinson 4 .500 .664 11.8 3.0 14.8 Elliott 4 .436 .833 3.3 2.0 12.0 Elie 4 .267 1.000 3.0 3.0 6.5 Jackson 4 .333 .667 3.0 0.5 5.8 Daniels 4 .429 .750 0.8 1.8 2.8 Kersey 4 .333 --- 3.0 0.5 2.5 Rose 4 .429 .375 1.3 0.0 2.3 Kerr 3 .000 1.000 0.0 0.0 1.3 King 2 .500 --- 0.5 0.0 1.0 Perdue 4 1.000 --- 1.0 0.0 0.5 TEAM 4 .440 .734 40.8 20.3 86.8 OPP 4 .396 .767 43.5 18.8 80.5

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HOW THEY COMPARE

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

Date: ResultFeb. 8: Lakers 80, at San Antonio 75

Feb. 19: at Lakers 106, San Antonio 94

April 24: at San Antonio 108, Lakers 81

PLAYOFF HISTORY

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Year Round Result 1981 CSF Lakersdef.SanAntonio,4-0 1983 CSF Lakersdef.SanAntonio,4-2 1986 1R Lakersdef.SanAntonio,3-0 1988 1R Lakersdef.SanAntonio,3-0 1995 CSF SanAntoniodef.Lakers,4-2

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TEAM COMPARISON (Regular Season)

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LAL SA Overall record 31-19 37-13 Home record 18-7 21-4 Road record 13-12 16-9 Overtime record 1-1 2-1 Avg. points 99.0 92.8 Opp. avg. points 96.6 84.7 Margin 3.0 8.1 Field goal % .468 .456 Opponent FG% .441 .402 3-pt. FG% .352 .330 Opp. 3-pt. FG% .332 .304 3-pt. FG/game 4.8 3.4 Opp. 3-pt. FG/game 4.3 3.4 Free throw % .683 .698 Reb. avg. 42.0 44.0 Opp. reb. avg. 40.6 42.0 Off. reb. avg. 12.4 12.3 Opp. off. reb. avg. 12.6 13.9 Assist avg. 21.9 22.0 Opp. assist avg. 21.2 18.8 Turnover avg. 15.1 15.2 Opp. turnover avg. 14.3 14.6 Steal avg. 7.8 8.4 Opp. steal avg. 8.2 8.7 Block avg. 5.7 7.0 Opp. block avg. 3.9 4.9

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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (Regular Season)

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Lakers San Antonio Scoring Shaquille O’Neal (26.3) Tim Duncan (21.7) Rebounding Shaquille O’Neal (10.7) Tim Duncan (11.4) Assists Derek Harper (4.2) Avery Johnson (7.4) FG PCT. Shaquille O’Neal (.576) Will Perdue (.633) FT PCT. Glen Rice (.856) Steve Kerr (.886) 3-Point FG Robert Horry (.444) Mario Elie (.374) Steals Kobe Bryant (1.44) David Robinson (1.41) Blocked shots Shaquille O’Neal (1.67) Tim Duncan (2.52)

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