Sweep Is Secondary to Game 3

They yell “Go, Spurs, Go!” a lot in San Antonio and for most of the season it was intended as encouragement. Then it became more of a literal thing, right about the time Terry Porter launched another 23-foot jump shot--from 24 feet.

But they are a loud and resilient bunch, even when the humidity percentage is outscoring the basketball team, by plenty, and so the Lakers would just as soon not go back.

Game 3 of the Western Conference finals will be played Friday, followed Sunday by Game 4, both at Staples Center, and victories by the Lakers would mean avoiding San Antonio until the fall, and resting their own aged and injured. Ahead in the series, 2-0, the Lakers claimed not to be thinking as far ahead as that, attractive as a sweep may sound.

“We know that Friday night we are going to get another great shot from them,” forward Robert Horry said. “We can’t relax even a little bit. Sometimes that is human nature and we have to fight that. The key for us right now is, don’t relax.”

The winning streak is 17, the last four, and five of the last seven, on the road. They’ve won four consecutive games in buildings where the home teams--Sacramento and San Antonio--were a combined 66-16 in the regular season. A couple of home games might seem easy enough, just the kind of approach that harmed the Lakers in the regular season.

“We need to get the third win at home and just try to set it up,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “We’re not talking about a sweep. We take one at a time. I think that’s the reason we’ve been a good team the last couple of months.”

Jim Cleamons sat at Jackson’s right for Monday night’s news conference, like the navigator who landed the airplane while the captain was in the bathroom.

Handed the clipboard in the most frenetic game of the playoffs, Cleamons was cool and decisive in the final 16 minutes. Hands on hips, he stood near midcourt when Danny Ferry dragged down Kobe Bryant on a sure dunk. And, most critically, he stayed with Horry on Tim Duncan, even rushing Horry back into the game after Horry’s nose was bloodied. Horace Grant was battling a bad cold.

In 55 minutes against the Spurs, Horry has 14 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and four blocked shots.

Shaquille O’Neal was named to the NBA’s all-interview second team and Bryant, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, Ron Harper and Jackson received votes as well.

None was available for comment Tuesday.

Portland’s Damon Stoudamire, in the Portland Oregonian, on Magic Johnson as a candidate to coach the Trail Blazers: “I want to know why in the heck he wants to coach the Blazers. He’s a part owner of the Lakers. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The Lakers will have home-court advantage in the NBA finals, should they advance from the conference finals.

They had a better regular-season record than the Milwaukee Bucks.

And although they tied the Philadelphia 76ers in overall and head-to-head records, the Lakers had a better mark against Eastern Conference teams, 22-8, than the 76ers had against the West, 16-12.