Series Billed as Showdown Best Described as Letdown

It figures this series would be such a letdown.

Los Angeles and San Antonio feature two of the most disappointing tourist attractions in the country, so why should a meeting between their teams be any different?

People flock from around the world to see Hollywood Boulevard, only to find that it’s a seedy, prostitute-laden, junkie-infested street.

And the first reaction upon seeing the tiny Alamo in person is to say: That’s it?

The same can now be said for this showdown between the last two NBA champions, the two division winners in the league’s superior Western Conference.

This was the series we couldn’t wait for. Now we can’t wait for it to end. Fortunately, that will come soon enough after that 111-72 dismantling the Lakers put on San Antonio in Game 3.

You have to figure the only reason most of the 18,997 Staples Center fans stayed around so deep into the fourth quarter was the game ended too early for them to be fashionably late for their next stop. Sunday’s Game 4 has been reduced to an appointment, a duty, a chore.

That’s not the fat lady singing, but you can hear Jeffrey Osborne warming up his vocal cords to sing the national anthem for Game 1 of the Finals.

The only asterisks to speak of at the moment are the ones next to Games 5, 6 and 7 in the schedule. You know, the ones that indicate “if necessary.”

Whenever a coach launches into such a profound questioning of his team’s belief, as Spur Coach Gregg Popovich did, and wonders “if we have enough juice,” it’s all over.

To tell you the truth, Popovich’s news conference was more entertaining than anything else the Spurs could provide. He even waved off a moderator’s attempt to end it and stuck around to answer more questions about his team’s predicament. Too bad his players had to check out so early.

Orlando-Milwaukee had more drama. Better trash-talk, too. Toronto-Philadelphia was pretty deep, too.

The Lakers are just too good, the Spurs suddenly unworthy competitors. It’s become . . . boring.

The Lakers, particularly Brian Shaw, tried to do their best to provide entertainment and even some free fast food. Shaw was throwing alley-oops, the Lakers knocked down three-pointers and the Laker reserve kept the scoreboard busy even during garbage time.

“We scored 111,” Shaw said. “So we thought we got the crowd chalupas. But I guess they didn’t have that promotion going on during the playoffs.”

Nope, that was a regular-season deal. So was the sense of competition between these teams.

Suddenly, everything seems to be irrelevant.

David Robinson responded to a week’s worth of criticism by scoring 17 points in the first half. He pulled down 12 rebounds in the game. He blocked seven shots. “He was even aggressive offensively,” Popovich said, with a touch of surprise in his voice.

Guess what? It didn’t matter.

Phil Jackson got kicked out of Game 2 in San Antonio and assistant coach Jim Cleamons didn’t miss a beat. On Friday, Jackson could have handed the clipboard to the guy sitting three seats to his left, David Spade, and it wouldn’t have mattered.

The Lakers shot 29% in the second quarter of Game 3. They missed half of their first 14 free throws. They still led by 10 points at halftime.

Kobe Bryant forced as many bad shots this game as he had all month. Shaquille O’Neal somehow missed five of seven when the Spurs went to their runt lineup featuring Malik Rose.

It just didn’t matter.

The Spurs can’t get both of their Twin Towers operating simultaneously. Aside from Antonio Daniels, they’ve received nada, zip, zero from their backcourt players.

If you’ve been following the playoffs at all, you know why the Lakers are winning. The Lakers have Kobe and Shaq and the rest of the NBA doesn’t. The Laker role players are playing roles. Are we all up to speed?

Good. Now we can discuss much more meaningful issues. Such as Rick Fox’s hair. As you know, he’s letting it grow out until the Lakers lose, and at this point it’s looking as if that won’t happen until next season. Does Fox have enough hair-care products to keep that thing on top of his head under control?

“I don’t,” Fox said. “It’s going to get ugly. It’s really going to get ugly.”

The Laker run--18 and counting--is getting so extensive that players are having a hard time distinguishing individual moments. Bryant tried to illustrate how this team has cultivated its killer instinct, and he wanted to use an example from an earlier series in which the Lakers let an opponent back in the game after holding a big lead. But he couldn’t remember if it happened against Portland or Sacramento.

The Spurs are about to become just another one of the blurs.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.