Parker Runs Into Laker Speed Trap

Tired of getting pushed around by Tony Parker, the Lakers pushed back Sunday.

Frustrated with getting burned by the 21-year-old San Antonio point guard, the Lakers mixed strength with savvy, knocking Parker off the ball and controlling the pick-and-roll that had plagued them in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals.

Parker had carved up the Lakers for 50 points and 14 assists after two games, but he finished with eight points on four-of-12 shooting Sunday in Game 3. He had five assists and three turnovers in the Lakers’ 105-81 victory.

Parker didn’t get much time or space to create. If he slipped past Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant was there to help, solving the Lakers’ defensive woes, at least temporarily.

“Every time I had the ball, everybody was aware,” Parker said. “They did a good job tonight. The help came faster. Kobe came a little bit faster. Every time I penetrated, he came to help. He didn’t give me anything easy.”

On the rare occasion Parker was able to penetrate, Shaquille O’Neal seemed to be waiting. O’Neal, who suggested beforehand the need to push and pull at Parker, was there when Parker moved in for a layup midway through the third quarter. O’Neal answered with a clean foul that sent Parker to the floor.

O’Neal again stopped Parker a few minutes later, blocking his shot and firing the ball to Payton for an easy layup.

“They contained him very well,” Tim Duncan said. “They were very physical with him. When he got in the lane, they put a lot of bodies on him.”

The Spurs’ two-man game with Parker and Duncan was ineffective, their pick-and-roll getting picked apart by the Lakers. Duncan finished with 10 points on four-of-14 shooting, and had few easy looks at the basket.

“Los Angeles really dismantled us,” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said. “They did a great job. They were very aggressive from the get-go, executed well, had a lot of players play well, and drubbed us.”

The Lakers probably won’t change much on defense for Game 4, particularly against Parker.

“We added some more pressure to him,” Bryant said. “When he was coming in the key he was either out of rhythm or had a hand in his face.”

Parker had been playing at a high level throughout the playoffs, averaging 24.8 points in the Spurs’ last five games before Sunday.

But he was off-kilter Sunday, allowing Payton to get the best of him for the first time in the series. Payton finished with 15 points, seven assists and a solid defensive effort.

“Any time he moved to the basket, we collided on him, and it made a big difference when everybody is jumping at you,” Payton said.

The Lakers, who have struggled against smaller guards in recent playoff series -- Allen Iverson, Damon Stoudamire and Mike Bibby, to name a few -- aren’t foolish enough to think the 6-foot-2 Parker will retreat for the rest of the series.

“He seems to be a pretty resilient kid,” Bryant said. “I don’t know if it’s going to bother him too much.

“I think the key is letting him know that he’s not going to get a wide-open layup. Tonight we contested every play. It’s not about trying to hurt anybody or anything like that. It’s good, clean play.”

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The Tony Parker Factor

One of the reasons the Lakers won Game 3 was their ability to stop Tony Parker. A look at Parker’s numbers in each game:

*--* GAME MIN FG-FGA FT-FTA REB AST PTS GAME 1 42 8-19 3-5 4 9 20 GAME 2 41 13-23 2-2 2 5 30 GAME 3 35 4-12 0-2 2 5 8

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