Fast Forward

By BILL PLASCHKE

May 15, 2001 12 AM PT

Finally, a dark alley. At last, a villain.

Onto the Lakers’ amazing Technicolor dreamcoat swarm the San Antonio Spurs this weekend, and not a moment too soon.

The Lakers need the pending Western Conference finals the way every president needs a crisis. For history, legacy, proof.

They need it, if they win a second consecutive NBA title, to show it was not because Rasheed Wallace blew up, or Vlade Divac flopped, or some tattooed wonders from Philadelphia rolled over.

If they beat the Spurs, then go on to another league title, it will be a championship earned.

San Antonio is the best team in the NBA. Or so says an observer close to the situation named Shaquille O’Neal.

More quantifiable is that the Spurs were the team with the best regular-season record in basketball, and the last team to defeat the Lakers in a postseason series.

Every memorable movie needs a conflict. After nearly a month of technically brilliant but basically boring Laker footage, here come the good parts.

The Zen of Phil Jackson versus the zing of Gregg Popovich.

Army (O’Neal) versus Navy (David Robinson).

A Rock (Horace Grant) versus A Hard Place (Tim Duncan).

Push (Rick Fox) versus Shove (Danny Ferry).

Old Man (Ron Harper) versus Older Man (Terry Porter).

Kid (Kobe Bryant) versus You’re Kidding Me (Antonio Daniels).

Then there’s my favorite.

Asterisk versus asterisk.

Jackson has said that because the Spurs won their only NBA title after the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, it should carry an asterisk.

Those in San Antonio, however, can claim that because the Lakers 1999-2000 title run didn’t go through their town after Tim Duncan was sidelined with a knee injury, it should carry an asterisk.

Jackson has a point. So do those in San Antonio.

In a couple of weeks, one side will fall, rather bloodily, on that point.

No matter what happens, some Texans will claim that the Lakers are not playing the best Spur team because of a likely season-ending separated shoulder suffered by Derek Anderson.

Indeed, Anderson is their second-leading scorer and best three-point shooter and perhaps the reason they vaulted above the Lakers in the final standings.

His absence may give the Lakers just enough room to run their way to the finals.

But although Derek Anderson is big, he’s no asterisk.

Even without him, the Spurs’ home-court edge makes this a reasonably fair fight. And, for the Lakers, an even more compelling one.

Because great NBA teams become great on the road.

Two of the Chicago Bulls’ more memorable championships--in each of Michael Jordan’s “retirement” seasons--were won without home-court advantage.

Some say the Showtime Lakers were certified as truly great after winning the 1984-85 championship without home-court advantage in the finals against Boston.

Rick Fox, who reflects upon these sorts of things, even smiled when asked about the flight to the land of history and heat stroke.

“I think it’s actually nice to be going on the road, being the underdog,” Fox said. “I think we started both of our first series sort of rusty because we had been home, with all the distractions. This way, we can get away early and focus only on the game. It’s an entirely different mind-set.”

These playoffs could use that mind-set.

Not that the Lakers’ seven-game rampage hasn’t been nice, but last year was more fun. There was more sound and fury. The Lakers were more human and, hence, more endearing.

Last year at this time, the Lakers had already been shoved through the ropes by Sacramento and chased into the street by Phoenix.

We felt then that they had the stuff. Their dramatic victory over Portland later proved it, and the anticlimactic victory over Indiana certified it.

This year, without a loss in 44 days, we know only that they are darn good.

What’s really inside, we’ll find out now.

Such tests turn darn good teams into memorable ones.

“I know we haven’t had any real close calls, but I think we’re adult enough and mature enough to handle whatever comes our way,” said Derek Fisher.

They need only to remember when they weren’t.

Yep, 1999, the conference semifinals against San Antonio.

In Game 1, the most valuable player was Jerome Crawford, the bodyguard who pulled O’Neal away from referee Steve Javie after a loss in which the Spurs physically beat the Lakers to a golden pulp.

In Game 2, a one-point lead with 18 seconds remaining was lost when the Lakers forgot to foul or even double-team Duncan, after which Bryant threw an inbounds pass off Fisher’s face.

In Game 3, the Lakers blew another late lead, then tried to get it back when Bryant dribbled the length of the floor and off his foot.

In Game 4, the finale at the Forum, the loss was so bad that fans booed Bryant and chanted, “Ed-die, Ed-die.”

Unfortunately, Eddie Jones had been traded to the Charlotte Hornets earlier in the year.

“I think we should schedule an exhibition game here next year against the Globetrotters or Washington Generals so we can leave the building with a win,” said a confident Jerry West.

Yeah, it was that bad.

Yeah, these next couple of weeks are fixin’ to be that good.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LAKERS vs. SAN ANTONIO

SAN ANTONIO: 105

DALLAS: 87

The Spurs take control early to easily close out the second-round series in five games. D6

The schedule for the best-of-seven Western Conference finals. All times Pacific:

GAME 1--SATURDAY

at San Antonio, 3:30 p.m., Ch. 4

GAME 2--MONDAY

at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m., Ch. 9