Spurs, Nets seek commanding leads

LOS ANGELES, May 9 (UPI) -- San Antonio and New Jersey take to the road Friday night, looking to take 3-0 series leads in the NBA playoffs.

The West's top-seed, the Spurs, are two wins away from dethroning the three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers after Wednesday's 114-95 home-court rout.

To get the conference finals again, the fifth-seeded Lakers must win four of the next five games from the Spurs, who led the NBA with 60 wins this past season, never dropping four of five. They have not had a 1-4 run since Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 2002.

The second-seeded Nets need two wins to return to the Eastern Conference finals following Wednesday's 104-95 home win over the Boston Celtics. The fifth-seeded Celtics are one of just two teams yet to lose at home in the postseason.

It has been quite a long time since the Lakers have been down 2-0 in any playoff series. They have won three straight titles since getting swept by eventual champion San Antonio in the 1999 conference semifinals.

Only seven NBA teams have come back from a 2-0 deficit to capture a best-of-seven series. The Houston Rockets were the most recent team to do it when they rallied past the Phoenix Suns in the 1995 Western Conference finals. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit.

"We view this as an opportunity," said Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. "They did what they had to do. The pressure's on us to do what we have to do. It's on us to do the same."

In addition, the Spurs have won 18 of their last 20 road games. Including the playoffs, they are 6-0 against the Lakers this season.

"We have to go in with the same energy," said Spurs forward Tim Duncan, the NBA's two-time reigning MVP. "We did our part, keeping home-court. We have to focus on the first game and put the pressure on their shoulders."

The Nets will battle not only the Celtics but the Boston fans at FleetCenter.

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead into Boston in the conference finals last year, only to watch the Celtics overcame a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to win.

However, the Nets won the next three, and are 8-1 against Boston since that crushing defeat.

"Last year was last year," said Nets point guard Jason Kidd. "We lost our composure. We knew we blew a big opportunity, but we never do anything easily. We learned from our mistakes, and knew that it wasn't going to happen again."

"I think we are happy where we are," said New Jersey Coach Byron Scott. "I feel real good. We know that going (to Boston), the momentum is in our favor. We are playing pretty well, but we haven't done anything special. We took care of our home court, and that's all we've done so far."

Kidd was taunted by Celtics fans during that game, and will be the target again after Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan said he wanted to smack Kidd's wife, Joumana, who often sits in the first row during games with their son, T.J. Kidd's family will stay home for Friday's game.

"They're going to try to make it as tough as possible for us," Kidd said. "You have to expect the worst. Celtics fans try to get under your skin. You can't fault them for that. You also can't focus on that. If you start to get rabbit ears, you can get distracted. I don't pay attention."