Thu May 29 10:33:59 2008

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Lakers try to knock out Spurs

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(Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Lakers can advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2004, as they try to eliminate the defending world champion San Antonio Spurs tonight at the Staples Center in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

LA leads this best-of-seven series 3-1. If necessary, Game 6 is scheduled for Saturday in San Antonio.

Kobe Bryant carried the top-seeded Lakers on his back once again, scoring 28 points with 10 rebounds to place Los Angeles within one victory of the NBA Finals after a 93-91 victory over No. 3 San Antonio in Game 4 of the set at the AT&T Center.

Lamar Odom posted 16 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, while Pau Gasol added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Vladimir Radmanovic contributed 11 points in victory.

Tim Duncan collected another playoff double-double with 29 points and 17 rebounds for San Antonio, while Tony Parker and Brent Barry added 23 points apiece. Manu Ginobili scored just seven points on 2-of-8 from the floor.

San Antonio has never rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series.

The Lakers, who won Games 1 and 2 of the conference finals at home, have won two in a row when they have the chance to eliminate their opponent from the postseason. They have dropped four of their last five Game 5s in the playoffs.

LA is 7-0 at home and 4-3 on the road in the 2008 playoffs.

Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, who is an incredible 189-80 in the postseason, is a perfect 40-0 when his teams win the first game of a playoff series.

The Lakers, who captured the Pacific Division crown during the regular season, had no problem winning the opening round of the playoffs. They swept Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and the eighth-seeded Nuggets, 4-0. In the semis, Los Angeles needed six games to eliminate Carlos Boozer and the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz.

The Lakers have returned to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2004. They defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in six games, 4-2, that year. LA has won this round four straight times.

The last time the Lakers lost in the conference finals was in 1998, as they were swept, 4-0, by the Jazz.

San Antonio has captured 10 of its last 11 Game 5s in the playoffs. The last time the Spurs were eliminated from the postseason on the road was against the Lakers on May 15, 2004 in Game 6 of the West semis.

The Spurs, who swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in last year's NBA Finals, have captured four world championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007) in the last nine years. They are 4-5 in conference finals since joining the NBA in the 1976-77 campaign.

San Antonio is 7-1 at home and 2-6 on the road in this year's playoffs. The Spurs defeated the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns in five contests in round one and survived a seven-game series with No. 2 New Orleans in the semis.

This is the 11th time these teams have met in the postseason. San Antonio is 3-7 versus the Lakers in the playoffs. The Spurs defeated LA in the 1995, 1999 and 2003 semifinals.

The Lakers knocked off San Antonio in the first round of the 1986 and 1988 postseason, 1982, 1983, 2002, 2004 semis and the 2001 West finals.