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Which shooter do the Spurs want to take it?

To a man--from the roster to the staff--they would say Steve Smith. The perfect stroke, the perfect mind-set.

A year ago they might have said the same about Terry Porter. So note the history and the impact and the reality. Just as Porter missed a year ago, Smith missed Friday. Just as Kobe Bryant hung in the air and threw in tough looks, Smith stood flat footed and missed easy ones.

Who do the Spurs want to take it?

Today they wonder.

Today they also wonder if the answer should be Tony Parker. Back in the Seattle series, when Parker was doing the unforeseeable to Gary Payton, he talked about the unbelievable.

David Robinson out, Tim Duncan out. What could the Spurs do in Game 4?

Parker knew. He would have to be Magic Johnson.

Parker knew about something that happened before he was alive, when Magic Johnson filled in as a rookie for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Magic jumped center, scored 42 points and won a title for the Lakers.

Couldn’t this rookie do the same as that rookie?

He didn’t that day. But as he sped past Payton in that series, winning a matchup the Spurs never dreamed of winning, merely Parker’s idea summed up what could happen. No rookie point guard since Magic has won a title.

He showed signs of that again Friday, throwing in 20 points before halftime. And midway through the fourth period, when Parker came off the bench for the final surge, he let go a three as if it was only natural for a teenager.

He missed. Bryant--when he was a teenager and airballing against Utah in his first playoffs--had the same belief.

So the nerve is there, and Bryant showed what happens when it gets some seasoning. He responded Friday as Michael Jordan would have, taking back the series with a glare.

The traveling move that ended Game 2? Kobe took 31 shots to make sure he erased it.

The Spurs have seen it before. Last year his three-pointer near the end of Game 2 sent the sweep on its way.

Friday, Bryant turned and lifted over Bruce Bowen with about three minutes left, giving the Lakers a six-point lead.

Smith didn’t get nearly as many chances. In a shooting line of two for eight, a late hit was meaningless.

But it was when and how. The Spurs ran plays coming out of timeouts for him, in big moments, and never did he have to hang as Kobe did. Smith was planted, set, in automatic mode.

Porter had similar looks, and more of them, against the Lakers in that critical Game 2 Kobe won a year ago. The Spurs loved their chance as Porter went up.

Porter was then what Smith is now. On many nights this year, Danny Ferry has been, too.

But with every jumper that Smith--or Ferry or Bowen or anyone--missed Friday, the Lakers leaned toward Duncan.

Robert Horry is smart enough by himself. But when other Lakers edge back?

Jumpers help.

Now, which shooter do the Spurs want to take them?