Miracle Answered, to Duncan’s Dismay

And so, having made the greatest shot in Spur history and one of the all-timers in playoff annals ...

Oh, never mind.

In four-tenths of a second of playing time Thursday night, Tim Duncan went from hero to heartbroken as half of the greatest exchange of miracle shots ever seen in an NBA playoff game.

Unfortunately for Duncan, his prayer-answering, 18-foot moon ball while going across the top of the key with Shaquille O’Neal all over him, which dropped with 0:00.4 left, was only the front half, and the best/worst was yet to come.

“I try to play the game and never get too high and never get too low,” said a numb-looking Duncan. “And that was kind of an example of getting a little bit too high and having a major letdown.

“Not much we could have done about it but just a great situation to put yourself in, hit a shot and,” he added, sighing, “just a huge letdown.”

Thus did the defending champions fight from 16 points down, and 12 down in the fourth quarter, to take the lead with 0:00.4 left and moments later, find themselves behind in this series, 3-2, going back to Los Angeles for Game 6.

Since few basketball teams were ever hit between the eyes as the Spurs just were, no one can be sure what they have left in them.

“Well, we’ll find out,” Coach Gregg Popovich said. “How do I know?

“That’s the cruelest loss I’ve ever been involved with. But given a choice, if something bad is going to happen to you, that’s better than being in Iraq.”

Derek Fisher, who hit the back half of the greatest exchange of miracle shots ever seen in an NBA playoff game, said this game, with all its highs and lows, was a microcosm of the Laker season, and the Spurs could have said the same thing.

The Spurs came in aware the worst might be happening, the Laker colossus rising from its torpor. They had problems of their own to solve with Duncan, their two-time most valuable player, getting a total of 27 shots and 29 points in Games 3 and 4.

“If the Lakers want to limit Tim’s shots, they can do it,” said Popovich before the game, merry as ever in these sessions. “We can limit Shaq’s if we want to go down there [and double-team] every time. That’s not tough to do with a big guy.

“We would like him [Duncan] to get more shots. I’ve e-mailed Phil [Jackson], I’ve left messages for him. I’ve asked him not to crowd the area and the guy just won’t listen. He keeps doing it. It’s rude. Since he’s not going to respond, Timmy may not get as many shots as he wants to get or that I want him to get.”

The game couldn’t have been that much fun on the Spurs’ bench, because the Lakers seemed to toy with the team, running up an 11-point lead in the first half, seeing the Spurs draw within three in the third quarter and zooming back ahead, 61-45.

But the Spurs rallied again, going ahead, 69-68, when Duncan, caught in the air 18 feet out, double-clutched and then just shoved the ball at the basket, to see it bank in with 2:44 left.

That seemed like a miracle at the time, but bigger ones were coming.

With 0:11 left, Kobe Bryant made a 20-foot shot to give the Lakers the lead. The Spurs ran a play, but the Lakers took a foul, meaning the Spurs had to in-bound the ball with 0:05.4 left.

This time, the ball went into Duncan. Manu Ginobili cut off him but couldn’t get free.

So Duncan cut toward the top of the key, with O’Neal shadowing him, and found he couldn’t get free, either, as the seconds ticked off the clock.

So Duncan threw the ball into the sky and hoped for the best.

“I couldn’t believe it went in,” he said. “They handled the dribble handoff great. I just had to take the shot. I just let it go as high as I could, knowing Shaq was there, and it just went in.”

When the ball dropped, all the seconds had ticked off the clock, leaving only the last four-tenths of the last one.

Of course, as it turned out, that was enough, or too much.

“Manu [Ginobili, guarding Fisher] did an excellent job,” said Duncan, after the Spurs gathered in the dressing room and watched the replay over and over.

“He did as good a job as he could have. But the ball went into him [Fisher], he turned and shot it and Manu’s chest was on him and his hands were straight up in the air. Perfect defensive position, nothing else you could have done.”

The Spurs thought they got a slow start on the clock and ultimately filed a protest, although on a judgment call, their chances would seem to range from slim to none.

“We got knocked down like that when I was in college,” said Devin Brown, the Spur from Texas San Antonio, “but I mean, at this magnitude, at this level, against that team?

“I mean ... I mean ... wow. I still can’t believe what happened.”

But it did. It may only have been a basketball game, but as Popovich noted, “Sometimes life is tough.”

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Skid Row

After taking a 2-0 series lead, the Spurs have lost three in a row to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. The Spurs lost four in a row once this season, and two of the four were to the Lakers:

*--* Date Opponent Result Nov. 28 at LAKERS L, 103-87 Nov. 29 at Golden State L, 91-89 Dec. 1 at Clippers L, 91-83 Dec. 3 vs. LAKERS L, 90-86

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