Lakers Aren’t Quite There

Tim Duncan looked like his old self, Tony Parker like his young self, Robert Horry like Robert Horry in all the clutch moments, and the Lakers were left staring at a loss.

The Lakers had been moving swiftly toward a playoff spot, and then the San Antonio Spurs came to town, putting an end to all the recent momentum around here, winning with conviction and ending the Lakers’ four-game win streak with a 96-85 victory Thursday at Staples Center.

More telling, from the big-picture point of view, the Lakers fell to 1-7 against the Spurs over the last two seasons, evidence of a team that has pushed and pushed toward a likely postseason appearance, but is still not in the same arena as the West’s best.

Lamar Odom took a step back after a recent surge, scoring 13 points on four-for-13 shooting and logging only two assists in 43 minutes. Kwame Brown dipped a bit, with only nine points after averaging 16.3 over the previous four games, and Kobe Bryant was also askew, scoring 23 points on nine-for-26 shooting.

The Lakers were undone by a season-long adversary, the third quarter, turning a one-point halftime deficit into a Spur rout after they lost the quarter, 35-18.

With it came a less comfortable seat in the Western Conference, their lead over eighth-place Sacramento dropping to 1 1/2 games with nine to play.

“We’re not quite good enough yet to stay with this ballclub and make it a game,� Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “We just didn’t have the input we needed in that ballgame.�

The jabs and words had been lobbed back and forth over the seasons, Jackson once dismissing San Antonio as a land of tourists and conventioneers, then Spur Coach Gregg Popovich comparing the breakup of the Lakers to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and, just this week, Jackson referring to Spur forward Bruce Bowen as “Edward Scissorhands� because of, well, his hands-on defense.

The Lakers won in San Antonio three weeks ago, 100-92, beating the Spurs at their own game, taking them in rebounds, 43-35, and drilling them in points in the paint, 56-26.

Duncan had only 12 points and four rebounds that night, but Jackson expected more from him, and them, on Thursday.

“They’ll be much more active,� Jackson said beforehand. “They’ve had a cushy trip, a day in between every road game on this trip. They’re really rested and ready for us. This is a good measure of what we would see in a playoff situation.�

That might not be such a good thing for the Lakers.

Parker, back after missing a game because of a bruised shin, had 19 points and six assists. Duncan, bothered most of the season by painful swelling in his right foot, rallied in the rematch with 20 points and 13 rebounds, making seven of nine shots in the second half, nine of 18 overall.

The Lakers managed to stay close, trailing 41-40 at halftime, although Parker kept slicing them up the middle for easy layups on the way to 12 first-half points.

“He went right by our guards,� Jackson said of Parker. “I don’t think he had to take a shot. He hit all layups.�

The Lakers actually took at 49-43 lead early in the third quarter on a three-pointer by Brian Cook.

Then came the rest of the game.

A familiar face pushed the Spurs toward separation from the Lakers, Horry making a three-pointer after Parker dropped the ball off to him with 3:30 left in the third quarter. Then Parker ripped the ball from Luke Walton and went the other way for a 68-57 Spur lead. Then Horry found Bowen for a three-pointer, and the game was all but ended, with 2:46 to play in the third quarter.

“We didn’t cover the basket very well,� said Bryant, who also had six turnovers. “We just didn’t contain penetration. They just busted us open.�

Horry finished with 12 points, and with that, the Spurs took a two-game sweep from Staples Center after beating the Clippers on Tuesday, 98-87.