SAN ANTONIO, Texas, 3 May 2004 — In four of the past five seasons, the Los Angeles Lakers and San Anotnio Spurs have dueled in the National Basketball Association playoffs with the winner eventually claiming the league crown.
So when the rivals begin their Western Conference series to start the second round of the NBA playoffs, the reigning champions Spurs and perennial contending Lakers will have the intensity of a title showdown.
The Spurs ousted the Lakers in this round on the way to NBA crowns in 1999 and 2003 while Los Angeles eliminated San Antonio in this round in 2002 and in the 2001 conference finals.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich compared the rivalry to American baseball’s New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, saying there was respect but not hatred.
“When you match up with each other so often, people make it into a rivalry,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It’s not like the Red Sox and the Yankees. They hate each other as far as I can see. This is just good competitive stuff.”
Sacramento and Minnesota open the other Western Conference best-of-seven second-round affair tomorrow.
In the East, New Jersey and Detroit open today while top seed Indiana opens Thursday against either Miami or New Orleans. Kobe Bryant, who has coped with a sexual assault trial as well as playoff pressure, joins Shaquille O’Neal in leading the Lakers, while Karl Malone and Gary Payton hope to finally claim an NBA crown in their first Lakers’ season.
To achieve that, the Lakers must dethrone the Spurs. Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Tim Duncan and French guard Tony Parker spark San Antonio while defensive specialist Bruce Bowen will try and shut down Bryant.
“You can’t beat them with momentum,” Bryant said. “They are too steady. You have to be calculating, beat them possession by possession.”
The Lakers have internal woes as well. Payton has been unhappy at being benched by coach Phil Jackson in crucial late-game situations.
“I don’t know what’s going on between them two, but I don’t think it’s something we should blow up right now,” O’Neal said. “We’re on a mission here and everyone needs to be on the same page. Hopefully, those two can work those issues out.”
O’Neal’s poor free throw shooting, a woeful 13-of-44 against Houston in the first round, prompted Jackson to rip into his star center by saying his effort from the line belonged “right in the garbage. It’s awful.”
“I’ve just told him time and time again that we cannot survive in these playoffs if he doesn’t get his free-throw shooting in order. It’s just like a turnover every time you miss two. It’s like nothing happened but we turned the ball over, and it’s a disheartening thing.”
While the Minnesota Timberwolves have reached the second round for the first time and the Kings have a veteran-laden squad, the Lakers and Spurs are a combined 6-0 against the Kings and T-Wolves in playoff history.
Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett and Sacramento’s Peja Stojakovic each averaged 24.2 points a game during the season.
The T-Wolves went 3-1 against the Kings this season and own the home-court edge in a battle of the two of the NBA’s most successful home-court clubs. Minnesota went 31-10 at home while the Kings were 34-7.
The Nets, off since sweeping New York out of the first round, seek a spot in the NBA finals for a third consecutive year, but the Nets have not beaten Detroit since the Pistons obtained forward Rasheed Wallace.
Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal wants the Pacers to win a title for 38-year-old veteran guard Reggie Miller. “This is a good thing for me,” O’Neal said. “I have a small monkey off my back. But I have a bigger one to get off, and that’s to get Mr. Miller his ring.”
