Duncan Sends Them Back to Drawing Board

Before 33,293 of his fellow citizens, young Tim Duncan took a one-point Laker lead in the closing seconds and turned it into a three-point Spur victory and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

How exciting was that?

“It’s just good to finally put one down like that,” said Duncan of his game-winning jump hook, looking like he’d just awoken from a nap. “It’s just a ‘finally’ feeling.”

The way Duncan reckons it, he owes the Spurs several of these. This was his first closing-seconds game-winner in the NBA and he’s already missed three, two against the Utah Jazz, one against the Sacramento Kings.

This is not a young man who shows a lot of emotion, or any, or has modest goals. This is a young man who joined a team that already had the game’s second-best center, and dropped him down to No. 3.

This is a young man now bent on dropping the Lakers into their off-season by next week, after which he may or may not arch an eyebrow.

“I expect that,” said David Robinson, formerly the second-best center, of Duncan’s big shot. “Tim has proven that to all of us. I mean, that’s his game. He can turn around and hit that jump hook. He’s got a little of everything.”

But it wasn’t a little heat that Duncan drew Wednesday night, it was a lot. Unlike Game 1, when the Lakers let him get off 24 shots, on which he scored 25 points, the Lakers came after Duncan all night, with three defenders (J.R. Reid, Robert Horry, Rick Fox) and a lot of help.

Well, they came after him almost all night. On the game-winner, Duncan was blissfully alone, singled up on Reid, who despite being listed at 6-10 to Duncan’s 6-11, is actually a few inches shorter than that.

The Lakers didn’t take the foul they had, or double-team. Glen Rice feinted over, as if to help, but went back. The shot flew. The Spurs re-took the lead.

“The play wasn’t exactly called for me,” said Duncan. “It was a great call. It was a high pick-and-roll. I rolled down and Mario [Elie] really looked for me. Mario had said, ‘I’m coming to you.’

“I just say, ‘Thanks, Mario.’ ”

No problem, big guy.

Unlike Game 1, when the Lakers wilted when the Spurs brought the heat on defense, both teams competed at the same level of intensity Wednesday night. The Lakers, having been alerted to the fact the Spurs are serious about this, went on war footing for Game 2, sending out for reinforcements in the form of a new TV and VCR, to replace the ones Shaquille O’Neal blew up after Game 1.

These arrived on the off day and were hooked up by the Laker video coordinator, Chris Bodaken, who took the precaution of taping the VCR down on top of the TV, in case of further vibrations, or maelstroms.

“Tape it good,” said General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Nor were the Spurs cocky about their 1-0 lead in the series. All they had to do was think of Shaq and motivation was no problem.

“We have to play physical basketball,” said Avery Johnson. “We’re playing against the most physical presence in the game right now so you’ve got to play physical. If you don’t, he will kill your whole team.”

The game became the answer to that musical question, what do you have left if the Spurs take away Shaq, and this time the Lakers take away Duncan? The answer was almost Kobe Bryant, until Bryant missed those two free throws.

Shaq got off only 11 shots. Duncan got only 19, and few were uncontested, except for you know which one. The Lakers kept giving him different looks, with Reid and Horry and finally the 6-foot-7 Fox doing to Duncan what the 6-6 Malik Rose was doing to Shaq.

“Nobody outdid the other tonight,” said Spur Coach Gregg Popovich. “We just traded blows back and forth. We knocked down a shot down the stretch and they didn’t. Sometimes, that’s the difference. We’re just thrilled we got that shot.

“Tim’s not going to be flustered. Whatever happens in the game, good or bad, he just competes and goes home.”

Duncan was undoubtedly thrilled, despite the blank look on his face and the level tone of his voice. He competed and he went home.

The problem for the Lakers is, he’ll be back, this weekend, next week and, probably, the next 10 years or so.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

OUT OF THE BOX

AT THE LINE

Neither the Lakers (68%, rank 27th) or the Spurs (69%, rank 24th) shoot very well from the free-throw line. Here’s a breakdown of what could become a very crucial statistic.

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LAKERS SAN ANTONIO FIRST QUARTER 4 for 6 3 for 3 SECOND QUARTER 9 for 14 10 for 11 THIRD QUARTER 0 for 2 2 for 2 FOURTH QUARTER 2 for 4 2 for 2

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KEY MATCHUP

Comparison of the game’s three big men:

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Shaquille O’Neal Tim Duncan David Robinson Field goals 7-11 8-19 7-14 Free throws 2-10 5-6 2-2 Points 16 21 16 Rebounds 8 8 7

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