Lakers Rebound, Pull Within 2-1

Cedric Ceballos had been a virtual noshow in the series. Vlade Divac was the goat of the last game.

Ceballos, who averaged 4.5 points in the opening two games against San Antonio, came alive with 22 points in Game 3 Friday night and Divac contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers took a 92-85 victory that cut the Spurs’ series lead to 2-1.

Nick Van Exel scored 25 points for the Lakers, who took advantage of a miserable start by the Spurs, then pulled away every time San Antonio threatened.

“We got good performances from a lot of people, and as predicted, Cedric Ceballos had an outstanding game,” Los Angeles coach Del Harris said. “Cedric played hard in the first two games, but his shots didn’t fall. I knew he would be back.”

David Robinson was practically a one-man show for the Spurs, scoring 34 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Sean Elliott had 16 points, but the other three starters combined for eight points - three each by Dennis Rodman and Avery Johnson, two by Vinny Del Negro.

The Spurs dug themselves a deep hole in the opening quarter with poor shooting - 5-for-20 - and even poorer rebounding. The Lakers, shooting 48 percent in the period, outrebounded the Spurs 18-8 and led 28-11.

“Our guys came out with a lot of passion in that first quarter and we made shots and were very active,” Harris said. “It was an impressive first quarter.”

San Antonio coach Bob Hill said: “They put us back on our heels and we just couldn’t get in it. … We didn’t shoot the ball well. We’ll be doing a lot of shooting in practice and see if we can’t do better on Sunday.”

The closest the Spurs got was 64-58 in the third quarter, but the Lakers spurted away again and led comfortably the rest of the way. San Antonio moved within seven points at the final buzzer on a long 3-pointer.

Lakers 92, Spurs 85

SAN ANTONIO (85)

Elliott 6-16 2-3 16, Rodman 1-2 1-4 3, Robinson 14-27 6-8 34, Del Negro 1-4 0-0 2, Johnson 1-9 1-2 3, Person 2-7 1-1 6, Anderson 0-3 0-0 0, Reid 1-4 2-2 4, Rivers 4-8 4-4 14, Cummings 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 31-82 18-26 85.

L.A. LAKERS (92)

Campbell 2-9 4-6 8, Ceballos 8-16 3-5 22, Divac 5-11 4-6 14, Peeler 3-6 0-0 6, Van Exel 9-18 3-4 25, Jones 4-10 2-2 10, Bowie 2-4 0-0 4, Lynch 1-1 1-2 3, Smith 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 34-77 17-25 92.

San Antonio 11 32 22 20 - 85

L.A. Lakers 28 25 23 16 - 92

3-Point goals-San Antonio 5-16 (Rivers 2-5, Elliott 2-6, Person 1-4, Del Negro 0-1), Los Angeles 7-16 (Van Exel 4-8, Ceballos 3-4, Divac 0-1, Jones 0-1, Peeler 0-2). Fouled out-Divac. Rebounds-San Antonio 59 (Robinson 13), Los Angeles 51 (Divac 13). Assists-San Antonio 20 (Johnson 8), Los Angeles 19 (Van Exel 8). Total fouls-San Antonio 23, Los Angeles 24. Technicals-Reid, Campbell, Los Angeles illegal defense. A-17,505 (17,505).