NBA PLAYOFFS : The Well Is Dry, Energy Is Sapped

They were great while they lasted.

But just when the Lakers seemed to have the San Antonio Spurs right where they wanted them--at the Forum--that’s when the red-red-Rodman came bob-bob-bobbin’ along. Old carrot-top rejoined the Spurs’ starting five Thursday night, just in time to knock the Lakers out of the playoffs, 100-88.

It took the team with the NBA’s best record to get rid of the Lakers, and it wasn’t easy. Dennis Rodman and David Robinson had to give everything they had to make the Lakers go away.

Well, I guess it was their turn.

Not since 1983 have the Spurs gone this far in the playoffs. Deep in the heart of Texas, they deserve a little showtime.

“We were missing something,” Vlade Divac said. “A little energy. That little extra effort wasn’t there.”

“It seemed like they had the fresher legs,” Nick Van Exel said.

The Lakers just plain ran out of gas.

Although they did not act tired, or use it as an alibi, they could have. Noon tipoffs, 8:20 p.m. tipoffs, relying on an eight-man rotation . . . the playoff grind plainly took its toll.

Flat on his back before the game, Van Exel stretched out, using a towel for a pillow. This was not his Rodman impersonation. After averaging a vigorous 45.7 minutes a night--at jackrabbit speed--in the four-game Seattle playoff series, Van Exel’s playing time had increased to a staggering 46.8 minutes through five dates with San Antonio.

Lack of stamina had topped the list of Laker anxieties for a week or two. Of considerable concern to Coach Del Harris was the stress these playoffs had been putting on two players, Divac, who was laboring nearly 40 minutes a night, five more than his seasonal average, and Van Exel, because with Sedale Threatt hurt and unable to help, Harris said, “Nick’s been playing his position with no relief.”

In that Game 5 overtime thriller, Van Exel never got a break. He played all 53 minutes.

But for Harris, it was a calculated risk.

“The human body, I don’t know,” he said. “Does your body really know if you’ve played 44 minutes of basketball instead of 39?”

In any case, giving Van Exel a rest was a luxury Harris didn’t have. His team already was playing on borrowed time. And nothing in the Cincinnati Kid’s play suggested even remotely that he was too pooped to pop.

Doc Rivers from the Spurs, for one, had seen enough of Van Exel lately.

“I don’t like him any more,” Rivers joked before Game 6.

Neither did his Spur teammate, J.R. Reid, judging by the last time Reid encountered Van Exel at the Forum. In a hallway after Game 4, on the way to their locker rooms, Reid heckled Van Exel.

Reid later said it was just talk and Van Exel agreed, calling it: “Nothing, nothing.”

Coming off the bench Thursday, Reid got right back in the Lakers’ faces. His four baskets by halftime were as many as anyone on either side scored except Elden Campbell and Sean Elliott.

The Spurs forgave Rodman his sins and returned him to their starting five. The redhead responded by opening the scoring on a layup, followed with a putback that made the score 6-0, then a few minutes later tapped in another to make it 10-6. These were Rodman’s only shots of the half.

Carrying the home team, meanwhile, was Campbell, their leading scorer in this series. He was five-of-six shooting in the first half--including a nice little junior skyhook. Elden (Magic) Campbell.

Midway through the third quarter, Campbell and the Lakers were at their best. Even when he barely missed a fadeaway from the baseline, Divac was there to ram home Campbell’s shot. Next came a swooping scoop by Cedric Ceballos that put the Lakers on top, 62-61, followed by Campbell’s adroit turnaround over Robinson.

But back came Rodman to instigate a San Antonio rally. On one effort, Rodman arched backward for a rebound, then volleyball-spiked it through the hoop. He and the Spurs gave themselves 11 points of breathing room, 79-68, and no Laker backcourt player made a basket in the third quarter.

Game, set and season?

Not yet.

Harris had commented before the game that the strength of any coach is his resistance to panic. As resourceful as he is, however, the coach of the year’s players had little left to give.

Ninety-two games is a long season.

“A break here or there, the Lakers could have been the talk of the whole country,” Harris said.

They were for a while.

They will be again.