May 6, 2002 5 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Shaquille O’Neal’s day got off to a bad start, and it would get worse before getting better. The important thing for the Los Angeles Lakers is things did improve significantly for their big man.

O’Neal sustained two injuries that required stitches Sunday before leading the Lakers to an 86-80 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series.

First came a mishap at home, when he suffered a cut above his left wrist that required four stitches to close.

“I fell on some glass playing with the kids,” he explained.

Then O’Neal sliced his right index finger early in the third quarter, and missed nearly 10 minutes of action while getting three stitches.

“I blocked a shot and hit it on the rim or I hit it on the backboard,” he said.

O’Neal scored 13 of his 23 points and grabbed four of his 17 rebounds after returning with 10:50 remaining as the Lakers outscored the Spurs 25-16 after trailing 64-61.

The win was the 20th in 21 playoff games for the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers, beginning with the sixth game of the 2000 NBA Finals, and extended their winning streak at Staples Center to 18 games.

The Spurs, playing without David Robinson, are trying to avenge the humiliating sweep they suffered at the hands of the Lakers in the conference finals last spring, when they were outscored by 89 points in four games.

The Lakers won despite making only 32 of 82 shots (39 percent). It helped that the Spurs were even worse, shooting 28-of-88 (31.8 percent).

And their star, Tim Duncan, shot 9-of-30.

“Most of his shots were under duress,” Lakers guard Brian Shaw said. “He had to work for every little shot he got. I don’t think it was a great defensive game by either team, both teams just missed a lot of shots.”

The Lakers got another scare just before O’Neal returned, when Kobe Bryant began hobbling around after bruising his right knee in a collision with San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen.

Coincidentally, Bryant came out and went to the locker room as O’Neal entered the game.

“As I tried to walk it off, the knee just kept on swelling,” Bryant said. “So I had to go back into the training room, put some ice on it to see if we could get the swelling down and to also see if I could bend it.”

It worked, and Bryant returned with 4:36 left, just as O’Neal was making two free throws to snap a 71-all tie and put the Lakers ahead for good.

A 3-pointer by Derek Fisher made it 76-71 with 3:56 remaining, but Steve Smith’s 3-pointer got the Spurs within two.

Malik Rose’s jumper with 1:13 to play cut the Lakers’ lead to 79-78, but a dunk by O’Neal with 1:03 left and a jumper by Bryant with 24.6 seconds to go clinched the victory.

At that stage, during a San Antonio timeout, the capacity crowd of 18,997 at Staples Center loudly chanted, “Three-peat, three-peat.”

“We tag-teamed it for a little bit and were able to survive until (O’Neal and Bryant) both got out there, and we were able to carry this game home,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

Bryant finished with 20 points and Samaki Walker, a former Spur, had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Several of the Spurs admitted that perhaps they blew an opportunity considering the injuries to O’Neal and Bryant.

“I think we did,” said Rose, who had 10 points and eight rebounds but shot 4-of-14. “They’re not going to shoot that bad Tuesday night.”

That’s when Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be played before shifting to San Antonio for the third and fourth games.

Duncan led San Antonio with 26 points and 21 rebounds despite missing his first 10 shots and making 1-of-7 in the third.

“Shots weren’t falling for me,” he said. “I just tried to continue to be aggressive and take the shots that were there and they just weren’t going down. I just kind of fell into a hole there – it happens.

“We’re still pretty confident. Our game plan was there, but it’s just about putting some balls in the hole. We do that, it’s a whole different ballgame.”

Steve Smith added 16 points and Tony Parker scored 11 for the Spurs.

It’s unknown when or if Robinson, who has a nerve problem in his lower back from a herniated disc that affects his right leg, will return. He played only seven minutes in San Antonio’s first-round series against Seattle. Notes:@ The Spurs led 38-32 at halftime. The 32 points were a season-low for the Lakers. … Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said there’s nothing doctors can do about Robinson’s health. “Playing with pain is no problem for this guy, the leg is just not working,” Popovich said. “The nerve is going to heal on its own time.” … Robinson was on the court shooting jumpers nearly two hours before the game began, but it had already been decided that he wouldn’t play. … The Spurs entered having lost seven of eight games to the Lakers – four in the sweep last spring and three of four this season. Before that, they beat the Lakers nine times in 12 games beginning with a four-game sweep in the conference semifinals in 1999. They went from there to win their only NBA championship.