If Nothing Else, the Spurs Are Survivors

That may not have been graduation, but as rehearsals go, at least they survived it.

The young San Antonio Spurs went to a level they might have seen on television but had never visited in person Tuesday night, then survived a crash course in Heart of a Champion 101 and surprise!

They lead the Lakers, 3-2. Two games may be still be left in this series and happily for them, one of those is here.

In one evening, the Spurs went ahead by 25 points, gave up 23 of them, then watched Robert Horry’s potential game-winning three-pointer go down and come back out, leaving the Spurs 96-94 victors, technically, at least.

“It would probably be difficult to put into words,” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said of Horry’s shot. “It’s something like a giant gulp. A lowering of the heart toward the belly.

“Those are his shots. We’ve all seen him make them.”

Of course, the finish suggested the Spurs might have been the first team to take a 3-2 lead while losing the series. Nevertheless, Popovich said he’ll take it.

“We’re thrilled,” he said. “You kidding?

“We just played a three-time defending champion. We’re leading the series, 3-2. I don’t know how the series is going to go but we’re going to play our rear ends off. I couldn’t be more happy.”

Well, maybe he could be a little more happy, but after two games in Los Angeles, when his young players were the ones doing the giant gulp, they took a deep breath, went back out and played.

Tony Parker, the NBA’s youngest starting point guard at 20, who came in averaging 10 points and shooting 34% in this series, scored 21 Tuesday night and got a big Pop welcome.

“I told him,” Popovich said, “ ‘Nice to see you back from vacation.’ ”

Said Parker: “I try to be aggressive. That’s all I can do. Coach Pop finds good ways to motivate me. He was saying I was not playing hard enough and try to play to win. That’s hurting me.”

Not that they’re supposed to be here in the first place ...

When the season started, the Spurs were considered a promising young team but not in the same class with the Lakers or Kings.

Nevertheless ...

“You look around,” Popovich said before the game, “you play people, you say, ‘Hell, why not us?’

“I told them, ‘If someone told you you’re going to have 60 wins this year and you’re going to have Game 5 at home, and it’s going to be 2-2 against L.A., [would you] take it or leave it?’

“They said, ‘We’d take that.’

“I said, ‘Of course, you would. You’ve done a hell of a job, you’ve had a great year, it’s a great opportunity, young as we are to do something really cool. So let’s just go do it. Enjoy what you accomplished but understand, it’s not what you really want. And we’re gonna see if the Lakers want another championship more than we want to try and take it away from ‘em ...

“We’re not going to execute as well as the Lakers. We’re going to have a few more errors in those situations. As time goes by, as the years go by, we’re going to get better and better at that ‘cause they’re talented kids but now the pressure is on our defense. It has to carry us through these games, just like it did in Phoenix.

“ ‘Cause we’re going to have those nights where nobody knows where the hell the ball’s gonna go, or nobody knows who’s gonna make what cut, if they even heard what I said in a timeout, if they know what city they’re in.”

Actually, the Spurs had both kinds of nights Tuesday.

They took the game away from the Lakers ... who then all but took it back.

The Spurs were brilliant, up until the point Kobe Bryant started raining three-pointers.

In Game 4, the Lakers came from 16 points behind, taking advantage of two stretches with Tim Duncan off the floor, in which they outscored the Spurs, 24-6.

Perhaps more ominously in Game 5, the Lakers outscored them, 30-16, in the fourth quarter, with Duncan in for all of it, taken away at the end by the inspired defense of ... Shaquille O’Neal?

“If we figure out how to stop somebody in the fourth quarter,” Popovich said, “or to score against somebody in the fourth quarter, we’re going to be dangerous.”

That gives them a lot to work on before Game 6 and they only have until 5:15 p.m. Thursday.

On the other hand, Popovich promises they’ll show up, even if they are only up, 3-2.