Sapped Spurs Stifled by Lakers

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">With four games in five nights having emptied their energy, along with much of their spirit, the Spurs ended their work week slumped in front of their lockers Friday night.

Unable, again, to find the juice needed to win on consecutive nights, they fell 100-92 to the Los Angeles Lakers, the same team they had buried four nights earlier. The loss was only the Spurs' fourth at the AT&T Center but eighth in the second game of a back-to-back.

The Spurs likely won't be asked to play on consecutive nights in the playoffs, but they didn't find that news heartening or even relevant.

"I can't understand it's just because it's a back-to-back," Manu Ginobili said. "Every team does them, and probably nobody is as bad as us. One guy can be tired. Two, maybe. But the whole team didn't play well today."

In beating the Spurs for the first time since Shaquille O'Neal was shipped to South Beach, the Lakers outscored them 56-26 in the paint. Kobe Bryant had 10 of his 29 points in the game's final 7 minutes, 18 seconds, turning back the Spurs with one circus shot after another.

Brent Barry scored a season-high 16 points, Gregg Popovich's vocal cords worked overtime, and just about everyone else looked in need of a long nap, most notably Tim Duncan, who spent much of the evening getting pushed around by Kwame Brown. Brown, who appeared to take a step forward from what Lakers coach Phil Jackson called "his juvenile delinquency," had 10 points and eight rebounds to Duncan's 12 and four.

In 12 games when he hasn't had a day to recover, Duncan is averaging 14.4 points on 38.8 percent shooting. Tony Parker also flat-lined with 10 points, 19 fewer than he scored against Phoenix one night earlier.

Both players, however, summoned the energy to leave the locker room without speaking to reporters.

"That's the attrition of the schedule in this league," Jackson said. "Playing back-to-backs like that can throw off a team.

"The Spurs are a strong team, with a deep bench, so this is still a good win for us and probably tough for them to digest."

The Spurs beat the Lakers 103-96 in Los Angeles on Monday, and they seemed to also catch a break Thursday night, routing Phoenix as only Bruce Bowen had to play more than 30 minutes. But for these Spurs, in this season, a little rest is as good as no rest.

The Spurs touched down at San Antonio International Airport around 3:30a.m., and they looked like they went straight from the tarmac to the court. They trailed 13-6 less than six minutes into the game, and Bryant had yet to take a shot.

The Spurs overtook the Lakers at the end of the first quarter when Beno Udrih provided a surge off the bench, but their energy emptied quickly again. Unable to keep Smush Parker from the rim and any of his teammates off the boards, the Spurs surrendered 11 unanswered points.

By then, Bryant had settled into a groove. He drilled a 22-footer over Bowen as the shot clock expired and drove inside for another basket. When he cold-heartedly stuck a 3-pointer with Ginobili in his face and 2:26 left in the first half, the Lakers' lead ballooned to 50-35.

At halftime, Duncan, Parker and Ginobili were a combined 4 of 16, the team was shooting 34.3 percent as a whole, and Los Angeles held a 23-16 rebounding edge.

"A lot of guys didn't play a lot of minutes last night, so just give L.A. credit," Bowen said. "They kicked our tails." </div>

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