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The Spurs had a chance to tie, but Bruce Bowen missed a wide-open 3-pointer. On the next possession, a hobbling Bryant worked his way into the lane and stopped short for the clinching jumper with 24 seconds left.

O'Neal had 23 points and 17 rebounds, overcoming 9-of-22 shooting. Bryant scored 20 points despite making a Shaq-like 4-of-10 free throws.

"We are looking to see where the gremlins are hiding," said Jackson, whose team has won 20 of its last 21 playoff games. "It was one of those very unusual days for us."

"It was a perfect opportunity for them to get a game from us today," added Lakers guard Derek Fisher, who made just 2-of-13 shots. "We didn't play well, but we hung tough." The Spurs may be wondering if they ever are going to beat the Lakers. They allowed just 13 points in the first quarter, limited Los Angeles to 39 percent shooting, led for nearly all of the opening three periods -- and still lost to the Lakers for the eighth time in the last nine meetings.

That slide includes last year's conference finals, when the Lakers swept the Spurs en route to their second straight championship.

"I don't think we played that well," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We can play a lot better than we played. (But) I was real happy with the way we competed."