Los Angeles, May 11: After two losses in San Antonio, Shaquille O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers cruised to an easy 110-95 victory over the visiting Spurs in their best-of-seven Western Conference playoff. Devean George led a hot start and Kobe Bryant fuelled a dominant finish. George scored nine points in the first quarter and Bryant scored 14 of his 39 points in the fourth as the Lakers got off to a quick start and rolled to a 110-95 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game Three of their Western Conference semi-final. After severely spraining his left ankle in Game One and missing Game Two, George was expected to come off the bench in a limited capacity in this one. But he was inserted into the starting line-up at the last minute and sparked Los Angeles, which pulled within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. George opened the game with consecutive jumpers and buried a 3-pointer with 5:20 remaining as the Lakers jumped out to a 19-4 lead. Los Angles closed the first half with a 14-6 run, led 50-36 at the break and never were threatened in the second half. Bryant scored nine points in the third quarter and scored the first 10 points for the Lakers in the fourth. Los Angeles opened the final period with a 12-2 run and had a 93-69 cushion after Mark Madsen made a lay-up off a pass from Bryant.


Shaquille O'Neal fell just shy of a triple-double with 21 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists as the Lakers snapped a six-game losing streak to the Spurs.


San Antonio's Tim Duncan had 28 points and 11 assists but got little help as the rest of the Spurs starters combined for just 18 points on 6-of-30 shooting.


Bureau Report