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Lakers Throw It Away

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Kobe Bryant went 0 for 2, and so did the Lakers here.

That does not mean it was his fault, since Bryant was the one who elevated his play, lifted the Lakers into the position to win it and took only 20 seconds of rest all game.

That does not mean the Lakers cannot rally from the 79-76 Game 2 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday at the Alamodome, does not mean that their return to the Great Western Forum for Games 3 and 4 will not turn this series back their way after falling behind, 0-2.

It does mean that there were two free throws, with 18.9 seconds left, in the hands of the Lakers’ surest thing, and this Western Conference semifinal series tilting to and fro.

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His teammates were already counting the points, figuring out how to stop a last-ditch Spurs’ three-point attempt to tie.

Then the first one missed off the back rim. And then so did the second one.

The Lakers, with the season literally on the line, were shocked at the scene. So was Bryant.

“I just missed them,” said Bryant, who had made 18 of 19 playoff free-throw tries before that moment. “I felt strong. I’ve been in that situation before.

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“I just shot it too hard, and I just missed them.”

If anybody could have been expected to seize hold of this game, and never let go, it would have been Bryant, who led all scorers with 28 points, including a whirling three-pointer to beat the shot clock and give the Lakers a 76-75 lead with 36.9 seconds left.

At the free-throw line, Bryant was the man every Laker wanted there.

“I was happy it was him going to the line,” said point guard Derek Harper. “I’ve seen him knock those down before. . .

“Kobe is clutch, man. But sometimes strange things happen.”

They seem to happen all the time to the Lakers, though.

There were plenty of other Laker miscues down the stretch during a calamitous final nine-minute stretch, which saw the Lakers go almost eight minutes scoring only two points, which turned a six-point lead into a 73-71 Spur lead.

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There was the blown team defense against Tim Duncan for the Spurs’ winning basket with 8.4 seconds left--when the Lakers had a foul to give and did not take it, giving Duncan a quick five-footer--or the inbounds pass turnover that followed the Duncan basket, or the shaky offense the entire fourth quarter.

On the inbounds pass from Bryant to Derek Fisher, the play seemed to break down, and Bryant threw it to Fisher, who was bothered by a defender (perhaps it was tipped), took his eye off the ball and had it ricochet off his head and into the arms of Mario Elie.

The play was designed to get the ball back to Bryant, and let him create. But that never could happen.

“I felt some pressure, and I kind of glanced away,” Fisher said. “I took my eye off it. . . . People are asking me, maybe the pass was too hard. . . . But no. I just missed it.

“I’ll take responsibility for it.”

The ball bounced to Elie, who was fouled. Then Sean Elliott was fouled, and he made his two free throws, to give San Antonio a three-point lead with 5.3 seconds left.

Bryant missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer to end the game.

The end-game errors ruined what had been a strong-hearted Laker retort after their loss in Game 1 on Monday.

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The Lakers fell behind in this one, but fought through some tough patches, even with Shaquille O’Neal in early foul trouble and having a difficult time finding shots.

Small forward Rick Fox came off the bench to throw his body in the way of Duncan, giving up size and strength but not passion, and he held Duncan down for big parts of the second and third quarters.

Duncan finished with 21 points on eight-for-19 shooting.

Bryant came up with the offensive magic necessary, battling through the big Spur defenders and whistling in quick jumpers.

But San Antonio snapped on the defensive heat in the fourth quarter, forcing the Lakers into a 1-for-11 shooting stretch at one point.

And the Lakers are facing absolute must-wins on Saturday and Sunday in this best-of-seven series . . . after staring at the best shot at grabbing control of this series they may ever see.

“We’re not in a good situation,” said Glen Rice, who scored 16 points and four-of-13 shooting. “We’re down, 2-0. . . . I think we’ve got to have a sense of urgency. We can’t panic, but we’ve got to win games.”

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After missing the free throws, and after the game, Bryant was calm, and clear-minded.

He said he is eager for Game 3, that he probably won’t ever miss two free throws like that again, and that all the Lakers have done is seen the Spurs win two games at home, as they had to.

“We’ve been through so much this year I think it kind of would be an odd feeling if it wasn’t an uphill battle,” Bryant said. “We look at it as an opportunity more than anything.

“You’ve got to keep fighting, you know what I mean? You just have to take this ‘L’ and roll with it. There’s nothing you can do. You can’t turn back time.”

NBA PLAYOFFS

LAKERS vs. SAN ANTONIO

Spurs lead best-of-seven series, 2-0

GAME 1: San Antonio 87, Lakers 81

GAME 2: San Antonio 79, Lakers 76

GAME 3: Saturday at Forum, 2:30 p.m., Channel 4

GAME 4: Sunday at Forum, 2:30 p.m., Channel 4

GAME 5*: Tuesday at San Antonio, TBA

GAME 6*: May 27 at Forum, TBA

GAME 7*: May 29 at San Antonio, TBA

* if necessary

****

GAME 2 RECAP

SCORE BY QUARTERS

*--*

L.A. S.A. First 16 26 Second 25 18 Third 18 17 Fourth 17 18 Final 76 79

*--*

HIGH SCORERS

Lakers: Kobe Bryant, 28.

San Antonio: Tim Duncan, 21.

HIGH REBOUNDERS

Lakers: Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, J.R. Reid, 8.

San Antonio: Duncan, 8.

HIGH ASSISTS

Lakers: Bryant, 4.

San Antonio: Avery Johnson, 10.

****

ELSEWHERE

INDIANA: 85

PHILADELPHIA: 82

Rik Smits scored 25 points for the Pacers, who took a 2-0 lead after Allen Iverson of the 76ers missed 21 of 28 shots. Page 5

TODAY

New York at Atlanta: 5 p.m., TNT

Portland at Utah: 7:30 p.m., TNT

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