Both Houston and San Antonio did whatever they wanted offensively in the first three frames against L.A. and took decent-sized leads into the fourth; the Lakers were able to leave Houston with a W thanks to a monstrous closing kick from Bryant, but that’s not a formula for winning games consistently — as they found out Wednesday and Jan. 6 against New Orleans, when they gave up 89 points in the first three stanzas and found they couldn’t suddenly turn it on.

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It was the first encounter for these teams since last spring’s Western Conference Finals … and it was honestly more than anyone could have hoped for. Except that the amazing ending to this game of ridiculously good execution and shot-making really wasn’t so typical.

Not in this building. Not when Fisher’s involved. Surely you’re aware, if you’ve followed this Spurs-Lakers stuff with any regularity, that it’s rare when the final play doesn’t go Fisher’s way at the AT&T Center.

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He credits Lakers Coach Phil Jackson for molding the Lakers into a determined group, a team focused on being NBA champions.

“The first thing you see is a team that believes,” Popovich said. “Phil has got them to the point where they believe they’re the best team in the league. They’re a hungry team, so they are going to be more serious from the very beginning.