SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- It took four future Hall of Famers and two overtimes, but the Los Angeles Lakers found a way to outlast Manu Ginobili and a makeshift crew of San Antonio Spurs.
Shaquille O'Neal, who dominated inside with 35 points and 20 rebounds, snapped a tie from the line in double overtime as the Lakers posted a 120-117 victory over the Spurs.
Kobe Bryant contributed 37 points, Gary Payton scored 16 and Karl Malone had 15 and 19 rebounds before fouling out for the Lakers, who improved to 5-0.
"We knew they were going to come out with a lot of energy, and they did," Bryant said. "Ginobili had a huge game for them. It wound up being one of those games we had to grind out."
Ginobili posted career highs of 33 points and 12 rebounds and added seven assists for the Spurs, who played valiantly despite the absences of injured starters Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.
"He's a gifted athlete. He's very competitive," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who returned from a one-game suspension for bumping an official. "He's got skills. He got shots to fall with his athleticism. He's an all-around player."
"He's improved a lot," Bryant said of Ginobili, against whom he matched up for much of the contest. "He hit some really tough shots. He improved his mid-range game and I was very impressed by him."
San Antonio trailed, 117-112, before former Laker Robert Horry nailed a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to tie it with 56 seconds left in the second overtime. But O'Neal grabbed the rebound of a missed shot by Bryant, was fouled and made two free throws with 16.9 seconds to play.
Ginobili missed a layup with eight seconds left and Kevin Willis could not tip in the rebound. Bryon Russell was fouled by Horry away from the play and missed the ensuing free throw. But Payton, who had been fouled grabbing the rebound of Willis' miss, made 1-of-2 from the line to make it 120-117 with four seconds left.
San Antonio had one last shot but could not get the inbounds pass to a 3-point threat, so Willis tried one from the top of the arc. O'Neal blocked it and the clock ran out.
"Down the stretch, we were just able to come up with a few more free throws," O'Neal said. "They had nothing to lose and we knew they would be playing all-out. We were able to pick it up in the end."
The teams were meeting for the first time since the Spurs eliminated the Lakers in six games in the Western Conference semifinals en route to their second NBA title.
Behind O'Neal and Malone, the Lakers took advantage of Duncan's absence, outscoring the Spurs in the paint, 70-34, and posting a whopping 31-4 edge in second-chance points.
"It was a great game," Popovich said. "Both teams were aggressive and played good defense. We did a lot of things well, but in the end you have to make shots down the stretch and get rebounds. They got a couple of offensive rebounds that hurt us as we didn't make any shots."
The Lakers trailed, 98-89, after a jumper by Jason Hart with 4:53 left in regulation before running off 10 straight points.
After Malik Rose split two free throws to forge a 101-101 tie with 45 seconds left, neither team scored again before the extra session. Ginobili missed a layup with four seconds left and, after the Lakers called timeout with 2.1 seconds to play, Malone was off with a jumper just before the buzzer.
With the game tied, 109-109, Bryant missed a jumper with 0.7 seconds left and San Antonio called timeout. But Ginobili just missed a 3-pointer from the left corner, and the game went to a second overtime.
Rose scored 15 points and Rasho Nesterovic chipped in 14 before fouling out for San Antonio, which also got 14 points from Hart. Horry had 12 points to pace a reserve unit that outscored the Lakers' bench, 30-11.
"I thought we did a good job," Hart said. "We had our two best players not even playing, sitting in street clothes, and it took the Lakers a hard fight to win in overtime, us without Tim and Tony. That shows a lot about this ballclub. And when those two come back, the sky will be the limit."
San Antonio converted 36-of-44 free throws while Los Angeles was just 23-of-37 from the line.
"We knew we had to play hard, and we did. They just beat us tonight," Rose said. "We'll see what happens next time. There were tough calls down the stretch, but that always happens to us and the other teams. We just missed some shots and they made their free throws. We competed, played hard, but we should have won."
