LA comeback is 1 point short

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

LA comeback is 1 point short

Horry's miss puts Lakers on brink

By Stephen Hawkins, Associated Press, 5/14/2003

he Spurs pushed the Los Angeles Lakers to the brink of elimination last night
in San Antonio, but the three-time champions are proving they won't go away
easily -- if at all.



One game after overcoming a 16-point deficit, the Lakers nearly dug themselves
out of a 25-point hole before falling, 96-94, when Robert Horry's 3-pointer
with three seconds left went in and out.

David Robinson got the final rebound, enabling the Spurs, who never trailed,
to take a 3-2 lead in the quarterfinal series.

The Lakers, who were buoyed by the return of coach Phil Jackson three days
after he underwent angioplasty, must win the next two games to advance to the
Western Conference finals.

Game 6 is tomorrow night in Los Angeles, with a possible Game 7 Saturday in
San Antonio, where the Lakers are 0-5 this season.

Tim Duncan led San Antonio with 27 points and 14 rebounds, and Tony Parker had
21 points, but they were as cold as their teammates at the finish.

The Spurs were ahead, 76-51, with 3:37 left in the third period and still led,
87-71, with 7:21 to play. The Lakers used a 15-3 run to get within 4, but a
beautiful alley-oop pass from Duncan to David Robinson, who had 6 points after
going scoreless in Game 4, made it 95-88.

Kobe Bryant, who had 24 of his 36 points in the second half, hit a 3-pointer
with 49.1 seconds left, and Shaquille O'Neal, who had 20 points and 12
rebounds, turned a miss by Horry into a 3-point play with 19.7 to go, making
it 95-94.

Stephen Jackson could have given the Spurs a 3-point lead with 15.1 left but
hit only one of two free throws. O'Neal rebounded the miss and the Lakers
called time.

Horry then got a wide-open look from the left side. It looked good off his
hand, rekindling memories of his game-winning shot against Sacramento in Game
4 of the 2002 Western Conference finals.

But the shot didn't fall, which means more heroics will be needed if Los
Angeles is going to be the first four-time champion since the Celtics won
their eighth straight title in 1966.

Mavericks 112, Kings 93 -- Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, and Michael Finley had
solid games, but it was Raja Bell who outshot Sacramento in a game-turning
third quarter that powered host Dallas to a 3-2 series lead.

Bell, who played two seasons for Boston University (1994-96) before
transfering to Florida International, provided a big boost for the suddenly
re-energized Mavericks with four baskets and 9 of his 13 points in the third
quarter. That was one more basket than Sacramento managed while being
outscored, 29-10, in the period.

Nash, held to just 6 points in Game 4, scored 25 points. Nowitzki had 16
points, 15 rebounds, and a career-high 9 assists, falling just short of the
first triple double in Dallas postseason history. Finley scored 16 points.

Bell's 3-pointer with 8:20 left in the third period broke a 65-65 tie and put
the Mavericks ahead to stay. That also started a 15-4 run he ended with a
putback layup that made it 80-69 with 1:59 left.

Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

[demime 1.01b removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of T.gif]