Spurs Move On In West

Form prevailed Thursday as the San Antonio Spurs advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 12 years and the Los Angeles Lakers ran out of miracles.

The Spurs, whose 62-20 regular-season record was the best in the NBA, used a 16-2 run late in the third quarter to go ahead for good in beating the Lakers 100-88 in Inglewood, Calif., to win the best-of-seven second-round playoff series 4-2.

David Robinson led the Spurs with 31 points and 15 rebounds. He scored 12 of his team’s final 14 points. The Lakers scored only six points during that time.

Sean Elliott added 26 points and Dennis Rodman, back in the starting lineup after a two-game absence, had 12 points and 16 rebounds. Avery Johnson had 13 points and 11 assists for San Antonio.

Elden Campbell led the Lakers with 21 points and eight rebounds. Cedric Ceballos added 16 points, and Nick Van Exel and Vlade Divac had 13 points each for Los Angeles. Van Exel also had 11 assists.

The Spurs, 47-8 since Jan. 24, will meet the winner of Saturday’s Houston-Phoenix game in the Western Conference finals.

The Spurs lost two straight games only five times this season and never lost three straight. So it was no surprise they rebounded from a 98-96 overtime loss to the Lakers in Game 5 at the Alamodome on Tuesday night, a game decided by Van Exel’s 3-pointer with a half-second to play.

The Lakers looked like a beaten team as the fourth quarter began, but scored the first seven points of the period to make it 79-75, and a 3-point shot by Eddie Jones with 7:23 remaining cut San Antonio’s lead to 84-82.

But that was as close as the Lakers would get. Rodman’s short jumper from the right baseline and another jumper by Robinson extended San Antonio’s lead to six points.

A jumper by Campbell made it 88-84 before the Spurs, thanks mainly to Robinson, pulled away.

The Lakers led only twice in the game - both times in the third quarter.

Spurs 100, Lakers 88

Inglewood, Calif.

SAN ANTONIO (100)

Elliott 9-18 4-5 26, Rodman 6-8 0-0 12, Robinson 10-19 11-12 31, Del Negro 3-10 0-1 6, Johnson 5-9 3-3 13, Person 1-7 0-0 2, Reid 4-6 0-0 8, Rivers 1-4 0-0 2, Cummings 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-82 18-21 100.

L.A. LAKERS (88)

Campbell 10-19 1-2 21, Ceballos 4-8 6-6 16, Divac 6-14 1-2 13, Peeler 2-5 0-0 4, Van Exel 2-13 9-10 13, Bowie 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 3-10 0-0 7, Lynch 3-5 2-2 9, Smith 1-2 0-0 3, Harvey 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-78 19-22 88.

San Antonio 24 23 32 21 - 100 L.A. Lakers 18 26 24 20 - 88

3-Point goals-San Antonio 4-11 (Elliott 4-7, Del Negro 0-1, Person 0-3), L.A. 5-14 (Ceballos 2-4, Lynch 1-1, Jones 1-2, Smith 1-2, Peeler 0-1, Van Exel 0-4). Fouled out-Divac. Rebounds-San Antonio 57 (Rodman 16), L.A. 38 (Campbell 8). Assists-San Antonio 24 (Johnson 11), L.A. 22 (Van Exel 11). Total fouls-San Antonio 24, L.A. 19. Technicals-San Antonio illegal defense, L.A. illegal defense 4. A-17,505 (17,505).

Rockets 116, Suns 103

Houston

Houston still wasn’t ready to give up. Hakeem Olajuwon wouldn’t let them.

Olajuwon scored 30 points and Houston’s sharpshooters scored 15 straight fourth-quarter points on 3-pointers as the Rockets, trying to become the fifth team to recover from a 3-1 deficit, defeated Phoenix.

That tied the Western Conference semifinal at 3-3, with Game 7 on Saturday at Phoenix. The Rockets extended their record to 9-1 when facing elimination from a playoff series.

“It’s hard to find words to describe what warriors, what fighters, what big-time players; they’ve done it again,” Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “We’ve given ourselves a chance to win this thing.

“It’s one game for all the marbles. We’ve gained their respect. We’ve had a great road record this year. I feel we’ve got a good chance.”

Trailing 84-83 with 35 seconds to go in the third quarter, the Rockets went on an 18-5 charge that carried over into the fourth period and gave them a 101-89 lead with 5:32 left.

Olajuwon, who had nine points in the fourth quarter, then turned the game over to the Rockets’ 3-point shooters and they hit four in a row, starting with Mario Elie, who had two in the burst that kept alive the Rockets’ hopes of defending their NBA title.

“We get sick and tired of hearing how much heart they have,” Charles Barkley said. “They don’t have any more heart than we do. We will be ready Saturday.”

Sam Cassell also hit two 3-pointers and Robert Horry got one.

“Sam Cassell, Mario Elie and Chucky Brown, the way they continued to carry the team was fantastic,” Olajuwon said. “In the fourth quarter, the concentration level was there.

“I think the confidence was there all along. Our record is really deceiving in the regular season (47-35). In the playoffs we have a championship team. You have to respect this team.”

Only four teams in NBA history have recovered to win a playoff series after trailing 3-1. Boston did it in 1968 and 1981, both times against Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Phoenix in 1970 and Washington did it in 1979 against San Antonio.

PHOENIX (103)

Barkley 12-22 8-10 34, Green 2-7 6-6 10, Kleine 5-10 0-0 10, Johnson 5-15 4-8 14, Person 6-10 0-0 15, Perry 2-4 0-0 4, Tisdale 3-6 1-1 7, Schayes 0-4 0-0 0, Majerle 4-11 0-0 9, Ainge 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-90 19-25 103.

HOUSTON (116)

Chilcutt 4-5 0-0 9, Horry 3-6 4-4 12, Olajuwon 13-22 4-4 30, Drexler 8-17 4-6 20, Smith 4-6 0-0 10, Brown 3-5 2-3 8, Elie 4-8 0-0 11, Cassell 6-11 0-0 16. Totals 45-80 14-17 116.

Phoenix 30 28 26 19 - 103 Houston 33 22 32 29 - 116

3-Point goals-Phoenix 6-19 (Person 3-5, Barkley 2-5, Majerle 1-5, Schayes 0-1, Johnson 0-3), Houston 12-25 (Cassell 4-7, Elie 3-4, Horry 2-2, Smith 2-3, Chilcutt 1-2, Olajuwon 0-1, Drexler 0-6). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Phoenix 49 (Barkley 14), Houston 46 (Olajuwon, Drexler 8). Assists- Phoenix 23 (Johnson 10), Houston 28 (Olajuwon 10). Total fouls-Phoenix 21, Houston 20. Technical-Houston illegal defense. A-16,611 (16,611).

Magic 108, Bulls 102

Chicago

ORLANDO (108)

Grant 2-8 2-2 6, Scott 7-15 3-4 21, O’Neal 11-21 5-8 27, Anderson 6-13 2-2 18, Hardaway 6-13 5-5 21, Rollins 0-0 0-0 0, Shaw 1-3 2-2 4, Bowie 4-4 1-1 9, Royal 0-1 0-0 0, Turner 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 38-79 20-24 108.

CHICAGO (102)

Pippen 8-15 9-12 26, Kukoc 5-10 4-5 15, Longley 3-8 0-0 6, Armstrong 6-11 0-0 14, Jordan 8-19 7-10 24, Harper 4-9 0-0 8, Kerr 1-2 0-0 2, Perdue 2-2 0-0 4, Buechler 0-2 1-2 1, Wennington 1-1 0-0 2, Myers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-79 21-29 102.

Orlando 31 32 22 23 - 108 Chicago 36 25 22 19 - 102

3-Point goals-Orlando 12-24 (Anderson 4-6, Hardaway 4-8, Scott 4-9, Shaw 0-1), Chicago 5-14 (Armstrong 2-5, Jordan 1-2, Kukoc 1-3, Pippen 1-3, Harper 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Orlando 43 (O’Neal 13), Chicago 51 (Pippen 12). Assists-Orlando 20 (Hardaway 7), Chicago 27 (Jordan 7). Total fouls-Orlando 20, Chicago 21. Technical-Pippen. Flagrant foul- Hardaway. A-24,322 (21,500).