SAN ANTONIO — Tim Duncan threw the ball up, fell down and heard the cheers. From his hands and knees, he looked to the San Antonio bench with wide eyes and asked, "Did it go in?" Told that it did, he ran to the sideline and was mobbed by teammates.

Only it wasn't over yet — 0.4 seconds were left.

Derek Fisher made his own spectacular buzzer-beater, swishing an 18-foot jumper off an inbounds pass, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a 74-73 victory Thursday night for a 3-2 lead in their second-round series.

The Lakers head home for Game 6 Saturday night having won three straight.

San Antonio, which had a 17-game winning streak ended in Game 3, had its 17-game home winning streak snapped by this loss. The Spurs also are facing elimination, something that didn't happen during championship runs last year and in 1999.

They thought they'd avoided it again on Duncan's shot, an off-balance 20-footer while falling to his left, his second amazing basket from nearly the same spot in the final few minutes. Then all they had to do was defend one final play.

After three timeouts, Fisher took a pass from Gary Payton, sank the shot over Manu Ginobili and ran off the court for his own celebration.

"I just wanted to get out of there and not give them an opportunity to think that we didn't believe it went in," Fisher said.

Knowing the play had to withstand a video review to determine whether he let go in time, Fisher stopped in the tunnel and watched a television with paramedics to see what officials would decide.

Before they even signaled that it was good, Kobe Bryant — who was close enough to overhear the referees' discussion — smiled and pumped his fist. He caught up to Fisher in the locker room, and they embraced for nearly 30 seconds.

Once it became official, a Spurs assistant slammed his clipboard on the scorer's table and stunned fans came out of their silence with boos, especially when a replay showed how close it was.

The emotional outpouring was not only because of the dramatic finish, but also because of the importance of this fifth game.

The winner of Game 5 in a best-of-seven series tied at 2-2 has gone on to win 96 of the previous 115. The 2002 Lakers were the last to buck that trend, against Sacramento. The 2003 Lakers followed it, getting ousted by San Antonio in six games.

Last year's Game 5 also came down to a final shot. Robert Horry, now with San Antonio but then with Los Angeles, missed it and the Spurs won despite nearly blowing a huge, late lead.

The Lakers followed nearly the same script as they were up by 16 with 3:59 left in the third quarter, but scored only 13 points the rest of the game.

"Our guys never gave up and gave us an opportunity to win the game," Duncan said. "That energy is what we're going to need going to L.A."

A 26-7 run put San Antonio up by three with 2:14 left. The first go-ahead basket came when Duncan banked it in from the top of the key, double-clutching as Shaquille O'Neal nearly swatted his first try.

Baskets by O'Neal and Bryant put the Lakers back up 72-71 with 11.9 seconds left, setting up Duncan's near winner over O'Neal that made it 73-72.

"I couldn't believe it went in, honestly," Duncan said. "They played the dribble-handoff great and I just had to take a shot, let it go as high as I could, knowing that Shaq was there."

On the Lakers' final play, two defenders followed Bryant as he ran toward Payton. Fisher popped free from the foul line by taking two steps toward Payton. He caught the ball, turned to his left and quickly released it for the game-winner.

"One lucky shot deserves another," O'Neal said.

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Bryant, coming off an amazing 42-point, no-turnover performance in Game 4, was fabulous for three quarters. He finished with 22 points, five assists and five turnovers.

Devean George was his top sidekick with 16 points, many off Bryant's passes, but he didn't score in the fourth quarter. O'Neal had 11 points and 11 rebounds and played great defense on Duncan.

Duncan made only seven field goals, but they came in bunches. There were three in the first quarter and the two eye-popping shots late in the fourth. He finished with 21 points, 21 rebounds and four blocks, but also made seven turnovers.

Tony Parker, who has cooled off since sparkling in the first two games, had nine of his 15 points during the fourth-quarter rally. Devin Brown added 11 points.

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