Familiar Faces Frustrate Horry

Robert Horry, silent and seething after Games 4 and 5, talked with reporters for the first time in almost a week, attributing his struggles to an opponent that knows him all too well.

Horry, who spent almost 6 1/2 seasons with the Lakers before signing with the Spurs during the off-season, had five points in the first five games of the series before scoring 12 points Saturday in Game 6.

He had made one of 10 shots in 86 minutes before Saturday and had brushed past reporters without comment after going scoreless in Games 4 and 5.

Horry, whose name is secured in Laker playoff lore, said it had been difficult to play against a defense that knows his favorite spots on the floor.

“People are saying, ‘What’s wrong, what’s wrong?’ ” Horry said, adding that the Lakers “know my game just as well as I know their game. They’re keeping me from getting off a good shot so I have to change my game plan. I have to do something different.

“There’s nothing wrong with Rob. They just know Rob’s game. Seven years over there, they know what I’m doing. They know what I like to do.”

“He just hasn’t found his offense,” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said before Saturday’s game. “We’re going to stick with him. He’s been great for us all year and in the Memphis series. So far in this one, it just hasn’t worked out for him. Maybe he’s due. That would be great.”

Horry made three of seven shots in Game 6 and had seven rebounds.

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Horry was ambivalent when asked about Derek Fisher’s winning shot as time expired in Game 5.

“As a friend you’re happy for him, but as an opponent you hate it,” Horry said. “Stuff happens. You just play through it and go on to the next game.”

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Former Spur guard Steve Kerr, an analyst for TNT, pulled off a triple-double of sorts Saturday.

Kerr gave two commencement addresses at the University of Arizona, his alma mater, and received a distinguished alumnus award before flying to Los Angeles to provide commentary for Saturday night’s game.

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The Spurs have won two championships in the last five seasons, but they haven’t played a Game 7 since 1990, a span of 19 playoff series, not including best-of-five first-round series. The Spurs lost to Portland in seven games in the 1990 Western Conference semifinals.