SAN ANTONIO (AP)—Kobe Bryant missed a chance to save the reeling Los Angeles Lakers from another loss.
With 6.7 seconds remaining and the Lakers trailing the San Antonio Spurs 95-94, Bryant got a favorable matchup against the older and slower Robert Horry.
But instead of taking the ball inside, the Lakers’ star guard opted for a pump-fake and an 18-footer that bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer to hand Los Angeles its 10th loss in 11 games.
“I wanted Kobe to drive to the basket,” Lakers coach Frank Hamblin said. “And then when Robert switched over to him, I really wanted him to drive to the hoop.”
Perhaps he had in mind what Brent Barry did seconds earlier for the winning score.
Barry worked a give-and-go with Rasho Nesterovic on an inbounds play. Getting the ball back near San Antonio’s free throw line, Barry drove across the lane and bumped into Caron Butler as he banked in a running layup.
San Antonio swept the series between the teams for the second time in three years.
Los Angeles is now 33-39. The last time they were this far under .500 in April was in 1994. They finished that season at 33-49.
The Lakers, who trailed by six points early in the fourth, went ahead 94-93 when Caron Butler stole the ball from Manu Ginobili and went in for a layup with 14.3 seconds left.
Barry scored 20 points for the Spurs, who bounced back from Friday night’s 18-point loss in Denver. Tony Parker added 17 points and nine assists, while Horry had 13 and Nesterovic 12 on 6-for-7 shooting.
“Tony Parker was a great leader—he’s figuring things out and finding teammates,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “The team showed tremendous heart. They had total team focus and concentration.”
Butler led Los Angeles with 27 points. Bryant, averaging 30.6 points in his previous five games, finished with 15 points on 6-for-19 shooting while being guarded mostly by Bruce Bowen.
On the last play, Devean George handed the ball to Bryant and set a screen on Bowen, forcing Horry into a defensive switch.
“I just tried to make (Bryant) go wide,” Horry said. “Bruce was telling me to stay with him, so I did. I was trying to contest his shot, just hoping it would fall short or go long.”
The Lakers scored the game’s first 11 points, making five of their first six shots. Butler accounted for three of those baskets, including a 3-pointer. San Antonio, meanwhile, missed its first five attempts and turned the ball over three times in the opening minutes.
Horry put back his own miss and then hit the Spurs’ first 3-pointer to start an 18-8 run for San Antonio, as Los Angeles missed 10 of 12 shots. Brent Barry and Beno Udrih each hit 3-pointers in the final minutes of the first to give the Spurs a 26-23 lead.
A dunk by Jumaine Jones capped an 11-2 burst for the Lakers early in the second, but San Antonio came back to tie the score at 36 on Horry’s dunk with 6:13 left in the half.
Bryant’s first basket of the night—a layup off a steal by Butler—broke the tie and Devean George hit a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds on the clock to put Los Angeles up 48-46 at the break.
Notes
San Antonio played its seventh straight game without Tim Duncan (right ankle sprain), and the Lakers played their seventh straight without Lamar Odom (left shoulder strain). … Chris Mihm left the game late in the first half with a right ankle sprain. … Before Saturday’s game, the Spurs had lost the second game of five back-to-backs.
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