It Was More Like a Horror Film

Coach Gregg Popovich sat his players in front of a television Monday afternoon, popped a videotape of Game 4 into a VCR and pushed the play button. Practice would have to wait.

Forgive the Spurs for shifting uncomfortably in their seats as they relived their fourth-quarter collapse that led to an 87-85 victory Sunday for the Lakers and a 3-1 deficit for the Spurs in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. It wasn’t meant to be punishment, according to Popovich.

“We faced our demons,” he said.

Popovich figured his players could learn from it, turning an agonizing defeat into something resembling a polished showing Tuesday in Game 5 at Staples Center.

“We can’t say to them, ‘Bad break, fellows, let’s move on,’” Popovich said. “It was a tough loss. As much as it hurts, we know this is a pretty resilient team. They’re very intelligent, very experienced.”

Getting smoked, 94-62, in the four fourth quarters of the series before Tuesday was another “experience” for the Spurs. San Antonio, making only 29.5% of its fourth-quarter shots, missed 15 of 18 in Game 4 and squandered a 10-point lead in the final 6:15 Sunday.

“We’re professionals, we’ve got to bounce back from that,” Malik Rose said. “Our philosophy is to get back home alive. I think we have a chance to win [Game 5]. We have won here before.”

Popovich was less concerned about the Spurs’ shot selection than about their confidence in taking those shots.

“We let the players know that shots are not controllable,” he said. “We told them to let them fly again.”

What troubled Popovich more than anything was the Spurs’ tentative play at the end of the games, particularly in Game 3 and Game 4.

“Our decision making down the stretch has got to be better,” he said. “The only thing that gives us an opportunity to win against these guys [the Lakers] is better decision making.”

*

Tuesday’s pregame session with reporters was far too early for Popovich to answer questions about a much-anticipated Laker-Sacramento King matchup in the conference final. Instead, someone asked for his impressions of the Kings’ 4-1 series victory over the Dallas Mavericks, completed Monday night.

“I thought Dallas would give them a good run,” Popovich said. “But [the Mavericks] didn’t seem to have the same flow to their game in the playoffs as they did in the regular season and, especially, down the stretch. Maybe Sacramento had something to do with that.”