Spurs take 2-1 lead

By Chris Sheridan
Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For the San Antonio Spurs, this wasn't a horror show.

New Jersey's Jason Kidd, left, and San Antonio's Tim Duncan battle for a loose ball. The Spurs won, 84-79. Associated Press

In a game that was low-scoring for three quarters before the pace picked up in the fourth, the Spurs emerged with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals by defeating the New Jersey Nets, 84-79, last night.

"You think we'd rather go flamboyant and lose?" Bruce Bowen asked.

Obviously not.

But basketball fans can only hope for something a little more aesthetically pleasing than the gruesome offensive display that included the lowest-scoring first half in the history of the NBA Finals.

Led by Tony Parker, Malik Rose and Tim Duncan, the Spurs took control with a 14-3 run to open the fourth quarter and held off the Nets down the stretch.

How unsightly was it?

The winning team committed 17 turnovers, missed 12 foul shots, tossed up numerous airballs and even had players bickering at one another after a series of botched plays in the first quarter.

"That's what it takes to set basketball back 20 years," Rose said.

Added David Robinson: "It was really, really ugly. We had a rhythm for about 5 minutes, that's it."

Duncan had 21 points and 16 rebounds. Parker added 26 points — two off his career playoff high.

San Antonio improved to 7-3 on the road in this year's playoffs with its fifth consecutive victory away from home.

Game 4 is Wednesday night.

The final score didn't accurately indicate how bad the offenses were for three quarters. The teams combined to score 55 points in the fourth quarter after totaling only 111 through the first three periods.

"It was like a European game. Everybody was struggling," Parker said.

The Nets had the lowest-scoring second quarter — nine points — in NBA Finals history.

Kenyon Martin scored 23 and Kerry Kittles 21 for the Nets. Jason Kidd struggled with his shot all night and finished 6-for-19 for 12 points with 11 assists. He also had four of the Nets' 20 turnovers, and Martin had five.

"It's not a major setback. It's a minor setback right now," Nets coach Byron Scott said.

San Antonio again made heavy use of a zone defense to fluster the Nets, whose half-court offense was pathetic for most of the second quarter.

When Martin made a foul shot with 1:46 left in the third, the teams had finally combined for 100 points. New Jersey led 57-54 entering the fourth.

"It was our offense against their zone. It kind of stagnated and slowed us down. It is frustrating out there. You beat the first guy and you still got two 7-footers back there," Nets guard Lucious Harris said.

Rose had three momentum-altering baskets in the first five minutes of the fourth. The first was a ferocious dunk over Dikembe Mutombo for the first points of the quarter.

"It was my first time to get him. I forgot to wave the finger afterward," Rose said.

Rose's second was another dunk that started the Spurs' 8-0 run, the third was a 2-footer from the lane after Rose faked out three defenders.

The last one gave the Spurs a 68-60 lead — their largest — and forced the Nets to call timeout.

Parker scored San Antonio's next five points by following up his own miss and converting a layup, then hitting his fourth 3-pointer in as many attempts. The 3 gave San Antonio a 73-62 edge with 5:21 left.

"We played the game the whole way through, which was a difference from the game before," Duncan said. "We have the opportunity to go into Game 4, get another one and really put them on their backs."

The teams broke the first-half record of 66 points set by Utah and Chicago in 1998.