LOS ANGELES: Bryant said.

<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://foxsports.lycos.com/content/view?contentId=1331086">Associated Press</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
May. 15, 2003 7:53 p.m. <br>
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During a timeout with 2:26 left, the Staples Center crowd stood and applauded the Lakers, who trailed by 25 points at that point. <br>
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Duncan, who finished 16-for-25 from the field, scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to give the Spurs an 82-69 lead. A basket by Manu Ginobili made it 84-70 with 10:07 remaining. <br>
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The Lakers were in need of a comeback similar to the one they made from a 75-60 deficit with 10 minutes left in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against Portland three years ago. <br>
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But it wasn't to be. <br>
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Ginobili's 3-pointer with 8:09 remaining made it 91-74, and the Lakers were through. <br>
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"We didn't want to take it to seven with these guys," Duncan said. <br>
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The Spurs advanced to the Western Conference finals to face Dallas or Sacramento. The series begins Monday. <br>
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"It matters not," Davis Robinson said. "We're just excited to be moving to that next level." <br>
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Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said there was a positive aspect to his team blowing all but two points of a 25-point lead in Game 5 before holding on for a 96-94 victory. <br>
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"This'll really sound crazy; what happened was the best medicine yet," he said before the game. "We won by the skin of our teeth. I think our players are coming in here with some appropriate fear." <br>
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San Antonio led by only two points after a basket by O'Neal with 4:43 left in the third quarter, but Duncan scored eight points in a 10-0 run that made it 76-64, and it was 78-69 entering the final period. <br>
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Duncan and Parker scored the last 20 points of the third period and the first four of the fourth. <br>
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O'Neal fouled Duncan twice in a span of 66 seconds, giving the Lakers' big man four fouls and a seat on the bench with three minutes remaining in the third period. <br>
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That was the beginning of the end. <br>
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The Spurs shot 23-of-39 (59 percent) and the Lakers were 22-of-38 (57.9 percent) in the first half, which ended with San Antonio on top 54-50. <br>
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Ginobili, who had 10 points, set Parker up for a 3-pointer and then scored four straight points to give the Spurs a 40-31 lead midway through the second quarter. <br>
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O'Neal scored nine points in the last 4:37 of the period, including a three-point play that gave him 21 points and cut San Antonio's lead to 50-48. <br>
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Duncan shot 7-of-8 in the first quarter and the Spurs were 13-of-20, but their lead was just four points - 29-25. game. "I'm just passing through," he said. "I'm going to Las Vegas after the game. I'm catching them in the next series - I've got faith." ... Shaken by the death of former teammate Dave DeBusschere from a heart attack Wednesday, Jackson cut his media session short. "It was just a day that was a reflective day for me," he said. "To suddenly have a former teammate who's barely five years older than me have a heart attack on a Manhattan street was shocking. We anticipated he was the horse." <br>
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