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Spurs defeat Lakers 95-85
Tony Parker scored eight of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, including a stunning crossover move that fooled Devean George and ended the Lakers' final push as San Antonio defeated Los Angeles 95-85 Wednesday night in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series.
Parker was too much for the Lakers to handle — too accurate in the early going, too quick all night, and too deft on his best move of the game.
The Lakers, led by Shaquille O'Neal's inside scoring, slashed a 16-point halftime deficit to 80-78 with more than six minutes left, and the momentum was clearly in their favor.
But Parker made a pair of free throws and a short floater over O'Neal after his crossover move on George to rebuild the lead to 88-80, and the Spurs' defense then made some timely stops.
Parker, who had 16 points in the first quarter when San Antonio took the lead for good, shot 13-for-23. Tim Duncan finished with 24, but he didn't score in the fourth quarter despite the Spurs dumping the ball into him on most of their early possessions.
Manu Ginobili added 15 points for San Antonio, which has won 17 straight games going back to late March.
O'Neal led all scorers with 32 points, while Kobe Bryant had 15 points on 7-for-17 shooting and Karl Malone scored 13.
After trailing by double-digits since early in the game, the Lakers made their move late in the third.
A layup by Parker with 3:11 put the Spurs ahead 73-60, but those would be San Antonio's last points of the quarter. Los Angeles, led by two inside baskets by Malone, ended the period with an 8-0 run to trim the Spurs' lead to five.
San Antonio missed its first five shots before Hedo Turkoglu made an 18-footer that tied the game at 2-2 and started a burst in which the Spurs made 10 of 11 shots. None of those baskets were by Duncan.
Parker hit a jumper for his first basket and seconds later he stole the ball from Bryant and took it in for a layup.
After O'Neal tied the score at 6 with a tip-in, Parker drove inside and flipped a layup over O'Neal to begin an 18-4 run capped by a 3-pointer by Robert Horry that made it 24-10 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Parker went 7-for-11 in the quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Spurs took a 33-16 lead.
O'Neal had 12 points in the second on 6-for-7 shooting, but Duncan canceled him out by scoring 11, seven of them at the line.
San Antonio built its lead to 47-26 on Parker's only basket of the period, a short floater in the lane when no one picked him up.
The Lakers went on a run of their own, with Gary Payton's only field goal of the half cutting the difference to 54-43. But Bruce Bowen then made a corner 3-pointer and Parker made passes to Ginobili for two layups, which gave the Spurs a 61-45 lead at the break. |
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