Too soon to bury Duncan just yet

SAN ANTONIO – Shaquille O'Neal said he hopes the San Antonio Spurs "will compete rather than just fall down." He declared that "the floppers prevailed" and that the Spurs "know that we gave them one."

Shaq also has reason to be upset. He goaltended a three-pointer by Michael Finley and turned his back long enough for Tim Duncan to throw in his own game-changing bomb, and that's never good for business. Not when Shaq arrived in Phoenix two months ago with one goal.

"I need to get my fifth ring," he told a teammate, "before Duncan gets his."

That's the way it's gone with Shaq and Duncan. They've traded shots and titles for nearly a decade now. Since Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls disbanded in the summer of 1998, the two have accounted for every championship but one. In all of those nine seasons, one of them has always played in the NBA Finals.

Shaq's friends say he's long bristled that Duncan could be remembered as the greater champion, so Saturday's 117-115 double OT victory by the Spurs probably didn't make him too happy. This time, Duncan stole back his .4 moment, as well as his standing.

The best big man in the game?

Duncan may not be ready to cede the title just yet.

The Spurs even drew up a new way for Duncan to torment the Suns. He totaled 40 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and tossed in the first three-pointer of his season just when it looked like Phoenix was ready to walk out of the AT&T Center with a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Trailing by three in the final moments of overtime, Manu Ginobili turned the corner and headed toward the rim only to see Shaq lumbering behind him. Wide open, behind the three-point line, positioned exactly where he was supposed to be, stood Duncan. Ginobili rifled the pass, Duncan took the ball, measured his feet and let fly.

"He was the third option," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "… You can imagine my horror when it went in his direction."

Duncan had attempted only four three-pointers all season, making none. In his nine previous playoff seasons, he'd hit a total of three. This shot felt good the moment Duncan released it. As the ball settled into the net, he spun on his heels, screamed and pumped his fist.

Said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni: "I guess he was due."

Try four years due. As the clock ticked down in Game 5 of the Spurs' 2004 Western Conference semifinal series against the Lakers, Duncan lofted a 21-foot moonball over O'Neal's outstretched arm from nearly the same spot on the floor. With Shaq completely eclipsing his view of the basket, Duncan never saw the shot drop through the rim. He heard the crowd roar and turned to the Spurs' bench.

"I made it?" Duncan mouthed to Popovich.

Four-tenths of a second later, Derek Fisher hijacked the greatest highlight of Duncan's career. "One lucky shot," O'Neal said at the time, "deserves another."

That's one of Shaq's great traits: He has a line for every moment. Spend 30 minutes around the Big Funny, and you can't help but like him. He's been friendly with Duncan, too, over the years, even graciously nicknaming him the Big Fundamental when they shared the All-Star MVP trophy in 2000.

Punchlines aside, Shaq and Duncan have also given the NBA one of its great bloodwars, even if neither cares to acknowledge their rivalry. Phoenix GM Steve Kerr knew as much from his days playing for the Spurs. If the Suns were ever going to get past Duncan they needed to get Amare Stoudemire a tag-team partner. Who better than Shaq?

Shaq immediately boosted the Suns' confidence, frustrating Duncan as Phoenix beat the Spurs twice, including a 17-point verdict only 10 days ago. "We've had many good battles," O'Neal said after their first meeting this season. "He's had to go through me. I've had to go through him. I pretty much know what he's going to do."

O'Neal also repeatedly proclaimed Stoudemire "the best big man in the game," and even the Spurs had to wonder if Duncan's time had come and gone. As Stoudemire rang up one 30-point game after another, Duncan's play suggested only indifference. The Spurs scored just 64 points in Utah, were embarrassed at home by the Suns then embarrassed again in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

After a near-loss to the lottery-bound Sacramento Kings, Popovich had seen enough. He ordered the team's bus to pull over then lit into the Spurs. Duncan was one target. "He's the leader and sets the tone," one team source said of Duncan. "He needed to play better."

"I thought we lost a little bit of heart, which our team rarely if ever does," Popovich said Saturday. "That's what we've been working on, trying to get that back."

In truth, Duncan probably had inherited some of Shaq's regular-season malaise. Win enough titles and everything before the playoffs is an 82-game grind.

Duncan appeared to catch scent of the playoffs during the Spurs' season-ending rout of the Jazz, and his fire was more than sufficiently lit Saturday. He carried the offense in the first half and helped put three different Suns in foul trouble. In each of their two losses to Phoenix, the Spurs saddled both O'Neal and Stoudemire with fouls but couldn't take advantage.

On Saturday, O'Neal played only a little more than four minutes in the first half. Stoudemire fouled out at the end of the first OT when he tried to plow through Kurt Thomas rather than shoot over him. As a result, the Spurs scored a staggering 72 points in the paint.

When O'Neal did stay on the floor? He gave Duncan some trouble, twice blocking his shot and stripping the ball from him on another occasion.

By now, the Suns have reason to wonder what they need to do to get past the Spurs. In the opening game of last season's second-round series, Nash was forced to the bench after splitting open his nose in a collision with Tony Parker. On Saturday, it was Parker who had to briefly leave. Stoudemire kneed him in the head on an early possession, and Parker said his vision "went dark." After a short stay in the locker room, the team's doctors cleared him to return, albeit with a large welt near his left temple.

"The whole game my head was pounding and pounding," Parker said.

Parker played through his fog well enough to score 26 points and the Spurs had other heroes. Finley forced the first OT with a late three-pointer. Brent Barry, who had played all of 13 minutes since Jan. 24, hit a three in the second quarter to stir the team's stagnant offense. Even Popovich junked his usual strategy and went with a "roll-the-bones kind of deal," moving from "Hack-A-Skinny" in the first half to "Hack-A-Shaq" in the second.

Then there was Ginobili, who took over the point-guard duties after Parker fouled out in the second OT. Nash threatened to send the game into a third bonus frame with his own ridiculous three-pointer, but Ginobili simply drove left one more time. Raja Bell couldn't stay in front of him and Boris Diaw didn't come over to help, leaving Ginobili enough of a lane to slip through for the winning basket and send everyone home exhausted.

"That's enough to kill you," Popovich said, "if every game is like that."

There's nothing to suggest this series isn't headed for another 10 days of similar drama. The Spurs merely did what they were supposed to do. They held serve. These teams are too close in strength and they know each other too well for anyone to gamble an accurate prediction on what comes next. The Suns have their demons, but Shaq's confidence likely wasn't dented by one loss. He's already vowed to come back more aggressive than ever Tuesday.

As for the best big man in the game? He'll again be waiting. Standing up.