Spurs Have Too Much in Reserve With Ginobili

Can you, Manu?

The race to see who could help their superstars began on a one-sided note Monday night as the Lakers lost one of the few role players they had left, Devean George, while a San Antonio reserve named Emmanuel (Manu) Ginobili took over the game.

Ginobili, a 6-foot-4 guard with an uncanny nose for the ball, made three three-point shots in the second half when he scored 14 of his 15 points, to go along with his six rebounds and four steals as the Spur reserves outscored the Laker bench, 28-4, making the difference and more in an 87-82 victory.

“I can’t figure him out, to be honest with you,” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said of Ginobili. “I don’t know what to expect -- I’m being totally honest -- what he’s going to do out there.

“As everyone knows, he was a big-time player in Europe, he won European championships, he always had the ball in his hands. Here he doesn’t always have the ball ....

“But he made shots. Timmy [Duncan] was doing a great job, deciding when he was going to try to score and when he was going to trust his teammates, and Manu came through and knocked down some shots. You’ve got to do it to win.”

Of course, the Lakers have Kobe Bryant. The Spurs who have to knock them down are all young and barely established, Tony Parker, 20, Stephen Jackson, 25, and Ginobili, 25.

“That’s true,” Ginobili said, “but Kobe’s younger than I am.”

Parker, who choked badly in Games 1 and 2 of the Phoenix series and then un-choked dramatically, averaging 18 in the last four, scored nine points Monday night but missed seven of his 10 shots.

Then there was Jackson, who was 0 for 6, failed to score and moped around so badly after getting an offensive foul in the third period, Popovich gave him a shove toward the bench before taking him out and playing him only briefly the rest of the way.

“Jack’s just a lot of fun that way,” Popovich said. “He keeps me on my toes. He just wants to make sure I’m paying attention.”

It was a vintage, defense-oriented Laker-Spur game. It even had the now-standard opening ceremony before the first game here, when Commissioner David Stern gives Duncan his trophy for most valuable player.

Of course, the Lakers, who have a former MVP of their own, don’t enjoy it as much as everyone else here. On the other hand, this is a regular-season award, so, considering how long it takes Shaquille O’Neal to round into shape these days, it’s a little late to be copping an attitude.

For Duncan, the good times end when he starts seeing even more double-teaming. The Suns all but carried him off in the first round, sending two and three defenders at him, daring his teammates to beat them ... which they ultimately did, although it took six games.

“If we wanted to send one or two guys at Shaq with a defender already on him, his shots would be cut in half,” Popovich said before the game.

“That’s basically what Phoenix did.... It was the same way in the fourth quarter as the last two years against the Lakers.

“We played ‘em well [last spring]. We split out there [Los Angeles] and they came here and beat us twice, but I thought we threw the third game away, our first home game. We had a lead in the fourth quarter and they went after Tim, and we didn’t knock anything down

“Oftentimes, it’s as simple as that, especially down the stretch of fourth quarters.”

This fourth quarter was a barn-burner, with the Lakers outscoring the Spurs, 30-27 ... as opposed to the trench warfare that prevailed for the first three quarters, after which the Spurs led, 60-52.

Nor does it look as if anyone will be scoring in bunches.

The Lakers were already thin before they lost Rick Fox and now George is a question mark. Horry, coming off a subpar season and a shaky first round, is still passing up shots and missing most of the ones he takes.

After seeing what Derek Fisher did to the Timberwolves, to say nothing of what he did to San Antonio in the 2001 West finals, when he made 15 of 20 three-pointers in the Lakers’ 4-0 sweep, the Spurs made sure they stayed at home with him, limiting him to seven shots.

“We have to play the same D we play all year,” Popovich said afterward. “ ... Either it will be good enough or it’s not.”

Monday it was, but Wednesday’s another day.

Jackson met the reporters on their way into the dressing room as he was heading out.

“I ain’t got nothing to say to y’all tonight,” he said.

At least, the Spurs had other players to go to. Maybe the Lakers could borrow one of theirs.