LOS ANGELES, 17 May 2004 — Kobe Bryant top scored with 26 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, as the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs from the 2004 playoffs with an 88-76 victory on Saturday.
The Lakers, who had lost the first two games of the best-of-seven series, clinched a fourth successive victory over the Spurs for a 4-2 win.
Los Angeles will face either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference final. Minnesota leads that series 3-2.
San Antonio kept the game close with solid defense but struggled offensively, shooting only 30 percent from the field. Forward Tim Duncan top scored with 20 points.
The Lakers strong defensive effort was led by center Shaquille O’Neal who scored 17 points, blocked five shots and grabbed 19 rebounds.
“I thought that defensively they (the Lakers) were wonderful. They made it tough on us in that regard obviously and that was really our demise in the series,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters.
The Lakers got off to a fast start and took a 16-8 lead in the first quarter before the Spurs gradually clawed their way back as the game turned into a dour defensive struggle. The two sides were tied at 39-39 at half-time.
“That was an ugly game but we pulled it out in the last couple of minutes. We knew they (the Spurs) were going to be playing desperate, scratchy basketball and that is what they did,” Lakers center O’Neal said.
“We hung in there, shot the ball well, hit some big shots down the stretch, hit some free throws down the stretch and now we are moving on,” he added. Bryant attributed a stronger defensive effort for the dramatic turnaround in the series.
“We became more aggressive defensively. We didn’t let them sit in their pockets or sit in their comfort zones. In the first two games they were too comfortable,” he said.
As the Lakers started to pull clear in the fourth quarter, San Antonio at one point resorted to continually fouling O’Neal, a notoriously poor free throw shooter.
O’Neal hit a modest 7 out of his 15 free throws during the game but did manage to succeed with several attempts during the most critical period of the contest in the fourth quarter.
Foster Has Career Game as Pacers Survive the Heat at Home
In New York, Jeff Foster had 20 points and 16 rebounds, both career highs, as the Indiana Pacers cruised to a 94-83 home win over the Miami Heat in Game Five of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday.
The Pacers lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and can wrap up the series when it resumes with Game Six in Miami on tomorrow. Top seeded in the East, Indiana survived a poor first quarter before rolling to the victory, the fifth straight for the home team in this series.
“I thought we played a good game,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said.
“We had some struggles early on, but we had a lot of guys step up. Jeff Foster played a critical role.”
Miami led 21-19 after one quarter, but the Pacers grabbed a five-point lead by the half before pulling away in the third quarter, outscoring the Heat 29-16.
Jermaine O’Neal led all scorers with 22 points, while Ron Artest added 14 points and veteran leader Reggie Miller chipped in with 13.
Dwayne Wade had 16 points and 10 assists to lead the Heat, which had six players in double-figures in scoring.
Eddie Jones scored 15 points for Miami, while Lamar Odom had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Pacers out-rebounded the Heat 47-30 and shot 51.4 percent from the field. The Heat has won 18 consecutive home games, including all six in the postseason, and will have to continue that streak to stay alive in the series.
The Pacers, who led the NBA with 61 wins in the regular season, won by double-digits at home for the third time in this series, but the Heat are confident on their home court.
