LOS ANGELES, 17 May 2003 — Tim Duncan scored 37 points and hauled down 16 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs dethroned the three-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers 110-82 in the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday.
San Antonio won the best-of-seven series 4-2 with the lopsided victory. “We didn’t want to take it to seven with these guys,” Duncan said. “We did not want to let up at all. We just wanted to play it all the way through to the end.”
In the day’s other Western Conference game, the Sacramento Kings avoided elimination with a 115-109 Game Six win over the Dallas Mavericks.
The Spurs also ended the playoff series string of Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who had won 25 playoff series in a row. “They left no doubt about the fact that they were the better team in this series,” Jackson said. “We’re severely disappointed we couldn’t make a run for the championship.”
Jackson, who underwent an angioplasty last Saturday, remained philosophical over his team’s exit. “We’ve had a great run, we’ve had great play. We’ve gotten a little bit older, we had some injuries, we had a tough year.”
The Spurs led by four points at the half, increased that to nine after three quarters and pulled away in the fourth, humiliating the three-time champions on their home court. Tony Parker added 27 points for San Antonio, which finally prevailed over Los Angeles after losing to the Lakers the last two seasons in the post-season, winning just one game in the two years.
“We’ve been put down by these guys the last couple of years,” Duncan said “More than ending their reign, that felt a lot better — ending their season and going on.”
Emanuel Ginobili added 10 points for San Antonio. Shaquille O’Neal had 31 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, while Kobe Bryant added 20 points. But the Lakers faded badly down the stretch as the sellout crowd sat in silence as the clock wound down in the fourth quarter.
“It’s very, very disappointing,” O’Neal said. “We’ve been celebrating the last three years, and we would have liked to have gotten it this year. But it’s been an unusual year. It was kind of a different team and a different feel out there.”
Bryant was equally as disappointed. “It’s just tough to lose, man. We haven’t experienced this feeling in three years. They executed extremely well. That’s an excellent ballclub over there,” he said. The crowd did salute the Lakers, however, with a lengthy standing ovation during the final time-out.
Kings 115 Mavericks 109
In Sacramento, Peja Stojakovic scored 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Sacramento held off Dallas. The best-of-seven semifinal series is tied 3-3, with the deciding Game Seven back in Dallas on Saturday night.
Vlade Divac and Bobby Jackson both added 21 points for the Kings, while Doug Christie had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Jim Jackson added 16 points and 12 rebounds in just 28 minutes for Sacramento, which has forced a seventh game despite the absence of star Chris Webber. Jim Jackson felt the Kings had responded well to the adversity of not having Webber, but also said the Mavericks would be even tougher at home.
“They’re (the Mavericks) not going to give it to us,” Jackson said. “We have to go out there and do it ourselves.” Nick Van Exel continued his outstanding series with 35 points, but he said individual performances did not count at this stage.
“It doesn’t matter what I do, it’s all about the team,” Van Exel said. “We’re going to be confident going home but we had a great opportunity to win tonight.”
Neither team could grab a big lead in the tightly contested game, which went back and forth all night until the Kings sealed it in the final seconds. Dirk Nowitzki added 21 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas, while Michael Finley also had 21 points.
Yao Ming Tells Coca-Cola to Stop Using His Image
China basketball star Yao Ming has accused Coca-Cola of using his image without permission and demanded his picture be removed from its products, a radio report said yesterday. The dispute is over recently-released commemorative Coca-Cola bottles being sold across China which feature a photograph of Yao and two fellow national team players, according to Hong Kong radio station RTHK.
