‘Timmy Time’ Isn’t the Only Way Now

A late arrived to the media interview room, Tim Duncan sat down at the dais, blinked a few times, stood up and left.

The TV crews had already stowed their cables and microphones, and the newspaper reporters were long gone, their notepads already filled with quotes and notes from other players.

Duncan, a two-time most valuable player who finished second this season to Kevin Garnett, was not needed by the media or, it turns out, by his team in the fourth quarter.

The Spurs held off the Lakers’ best offer yet without a single point from Duncan.

Tony Parker had eight points in the quarter, and Hedo Turkoglu and Manu Ginobili each had five, good enough to extend a precarious two-point lead into a 95-85 victory Wednesday in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.

There’s no arguing the importance of Duncan, who scored 24 points, but his fourth-quarter statistics -- two missed shots and no free-throw attempts -- accentuated a theme the Lakers are realizing with each game: The Spurs are deep enough to win by 10, even if Duncan doesn’t finish with a flurry.

Instead of Duncan dunking, there was Parker beating Devean George with a cross-over and feathering a teardrop shot over Shaquille O’Neal.

Instead of Duncan posting up, there was Turkoglu making a three-pointer to extend a shrinking lead that had fallen to two at the time.

Instead of Duncan drawing foul after foul, there was Ginobili making a 16-footer from the wing, extending the Lakers’ misery, as defined by their absence of a basket in the final 5:34.

Duncan had two assists and four rebounds in a quarter that belonged to his teammates, a change that can only be interpreted as positive for the Spurs, who used to pound the ball to Duncan without fail in the fourth quarter.

“We’d call out plays and everybody knew we were going to Tim,” forward Bruce Bowen said. “Now we have Hedo, Manu, myself and Tony. There’s other options now.”

Enough to tie a team record with a 17th consecutive victory.

“We purposely don’t say, ‘It’s the fourth quarter, we’re going to Tim Duncan,’ ” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said. “I don’t think it’s wise and it’s not going to work that way. For us, it’s better to do it auto-offense, with team offense and just see what happens. It could be Tony’s night or Hedo’s night or Manu’s or it could be Tim’s, depending on what goes on. We usually don’t just say, ‘Fourth quarter, it’s Timmy time.’ ”

Parker continued to mature in front of his teammates’ eyes, again blending scoring with sharing, finishing with 30 points and five assists.

In the end, the only quotes from Duncan were those he gave in a post-game TV interview. Turns out he didn’t mind not being the center of attention, giving an assist to his point guard.

“He’s been taking over in games and it’s so great to have that beside me,” Duncan said.

As for the other Spur scorers in the quarter: “We have so many more weapons,” Duncan said. “All the guys have been so effective.”