Spurs will try to tie up series with Lakers tonight
Pistons win to knot series with Celtics at 2-all

VIEW FROM ABOVE - San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (center) is fouled by Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher (right), and forward Ronny Turiaf during the second half of Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference basketball finals Sunday. Game 4 is tonight, an 8 p.m. tipoff - the Lakers lead the series, 2 wins to 1.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Lamar Odom had a sleepless night after the Lakers' Game 3 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

Pau Gasol said it's always hard to get shut eye after a tough loss and Derek Fisher said he slept "decent enough."

Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson wasn't surprised.

"I like players to get their rest, there's no doubt," Jackson said Monday. "But any time you have a game of that importance and you don't play well, you're upset. It's bothersome."

Bothered might be an understatement for Odom.

"I got to the point where I couldn't make a shot," said Odom, who went 2-of-11 from the field and finished with seven points on Sunday. "But then I got to the free throw line and I wasn't making free throws. That can't happen."

Odom, who hit just 3-of-8 from the foul line, wasn't alone in his struggles in the 103-84 loss. Fisher scored just two points on 1-of-4 shooting and Gasol fared somewhat better, going 7-of-18 for 15 points.

"A little bit indecisive, not aggressive enough finishing," Gasol said of his offensive performance. "I didn't finish strong enough. I was just kind of floating a few shots and they weren't going in."

The Lakers hold a 2-1 advantage in the Western Conference finals. Game 4 of the best-ofseven series is tonight in San Antonio, an 8 p.m. tipoff on TNT (Kilgore Cable channel 15).

Jackson said he's "comfortable we can get Lamar back on track."

"Once it gets going bad for him, there's a lot of times he can't turn his game around in the course of the night," Jackson said. "So that's one of the things we keep talking about, finding a way to recapture your ball game even though things haven't gone well for you early."

While league MVP Kobe Bryant may be as close to a oneman team as there is - his four fourth-quarter 3-pointers got the Lakers as close as 12 late in Game 3 - more help from Odom, Gasol and Fisher could go a long way toward the Lakers stealing one in San Antonio.

"I don't think they did anything differently," Bryant said of Gasol and Odom's shooting. "I think they just missed a lot that they usually normally make, so you just chalk it up."

Jackson said Fisher simply needs more shots.

"We've got to get six, eight shots for him, in that kind of minutes where he has an opportunity to help us," Jackson said.

Fisher and Odom also struggled in the Lakers' come-frombehind Game 1 victory. Odom scored eight points on 3-of-12 shooting in the 89-85 win and Fisher had four points while going 1-of-9.

The Lakers shot nearly 43 percent (35-of-82) from the field in Game 3, but the Spurs hit 38-of- 74 (51 percent), including 10 3- pointers.

Manu Ginobili hit five 3s and broke out of his shooting slump to lead San Antonio with 30 points off the bench. Bryant led the Lakers with 30.

"Making shots is part of it. And we did a better job of that," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They (Los Angeles) missed some shots that could have gone in without a doubt."

Offense aside, Tim Duncan said the Spurs always return to their old standby: defense.

"We have to contain them, limit what they do," Duncan said. "They have the best scorer in the league. He can get off in stretches. We have to be able to contain the rest of their team and understand that defense is what's going to get us over the hump."

Now it's the Lakers trying to get over the hump of Sunday's loss as they look for a Game 4 win - one Bryant said the Lakers want "in the worst way" - to set up the chance to eliminate the defending champions in five games.

Fisher said doing that requires both keeping the Game 3 loss close, and also letting go of it.

"I think you hold on to the fact that it's very frustrating and very disappointing in the sense that we couldn't give ourselves a chance to win the game," Fisher said. "So you hold on to some of that frustration, some of that resentment that you have for the opponent. You keep that.

"But you let go of the fact that you lost a game. ... You get past that part of it and you keep your focus on the things that will motivate you and help you to win the next game."

• Pistons, Celtics now tied: Antonio McDyess is relieved he didn't retire when his knees and career were in shambles.

The Detroit Pistons are, too.

Playing his best playoff game in perhaps a decade, McDyess had 21 points and 16 rebounds to lift Detroit to a 94-75 seriesevening win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Game 5 is Wednesday night in Boston, a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

McDyess' banged-up left knee limited him to 10 games during the 2001-02 season in Denver, none the next and just 42 the following season with New York and Phoenix.

The 33-year-old power forward often plays with the most energy on a team that traditionally peaks and flops depending on whether its up, even or behind in a series.

"It's almost like 0-0 again, it's a three-game series," Boston's Ray Allen said. "We've got to protect our home court. We lost the last game at home, and definitely are going to have to win on their court for us to send a message or definitely move on."

In Game 4, Boston's Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Allen combined to miss their first seven shots and finished 11-for-38 from the field.

Richard Hamilton scored 20 points to help the Pistons' cause. Rasheed Wallace had 14 and five blocks, and Chauncey Billups added 10 points, seven assists, two steals and no turnovers.

Reserve Jason Maxiell filled in well when Wallace was in foul trouble by scoring 14 points and playing tough defense on Garnett, notably on a come-frombehind block on a dunk attempt. "Max made an unbelievable play," Billups said.

Detroit improved to 5-0 in games following losses in the playoffs. +