Popovich Stays Ever Cautious

The San Antonio Spurs have at least two more reasons to be optimistic before Friday night’s Game 3 against the Lakers.

Spur forward Tim Duncan is expected to be officially announced today as the NBA’s most valuable player, giving the 30,000-plus fans reason to be extra loud at the Alamodome.

And the chances are improving that center David Robinson, seen only in street clothes so far, may finally be back to defend Laker counterpart Shaquille O’Neal.

“It would be huge,” Duncan said. “When Dave comes back, it will be an incredible boost for us.”

Teammates agree, but Spur Coach Gregg Popovich offers a different viewpoint.

“I’m not sure it would be that big a deal,” Popovich said. “We’ve been without him for a month, and we’ve gotten used to being without him.”

The 7-foot-1 Robinson aggravated a disk in his lower back late in the regular season, and played only a few minutes in the first-round series against the Seattle SuperSonics.

Team officials say his back feels better, and that he’s strengthening his right leg to overcome nerve irritation caused by the back injury.

Popovich also downplayed any lift that comes from playing at home.

“In the playoffs, all of the teams are so good now,” he said. “They’ve all done well on the road, so people are prepared no matter where they play.”

Laker guard Kobe Bryant, however, said crowds count.

“They’re going to have 36,000 fans hollering and screaming, Duncan’s going to get the MVP award,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of emotion in that game.... We have to go up to San Antonio and play well in Game 3.”

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Though not in uniform for the Spurs’ Game 2 victory, teammates say Robinson used his savvy and experience to contribute to the win.

“He was like Nostradamus out there,” forward Malik Rose said. “He was predicting runs, ‘They’re going to make a run, this is going to happen, that is going to happen, we have to do this, we have to do that,’ and it happened. We took heed to what he was saying.”

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The Lakers didn’t squeeze out a victory in Game 2, thanks to a playoff-career-high 13 points from small forward Bruce Bowen, 14 points off the bench from guard Antonio Daniels and another strong performance from Rose, who pulled down three of his 11 rebounds in the final two minutes.

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Laker forward Samaki Walker, a member of the Spurs’ team swept by the Lakers in last year’s Western Conference finals, gave his old team credit for holding on in Game 2.

“They had to be pretty scared being up 20 points and having us come back the way we did,” Walker said. “This definitely breaks down the mental wall. They have beaten Goliath.”

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Duncan, when asked by a reporter if the Spurs had proved the Lakers were beatable, said: “They’re only immortal to you guys.”