By Brian A. Lester

It became official Tuesday night at the Staples Center that the Los Angeles Lakers no longer seem as invincible as they have been over their last two title runs.

San Antonio, still kicking themselves for losing the series opener to the Lakers on Sunday afternoon, bounced back with a surprising 88-85 victory in Game 2, leveling their Western Conference semifinal series at one game apiece.

As was the case in Game 1, the Lakers played poorly and looked vulenerable. But this time, the Spurs capitalized.

Now, there is hope in the state of Texas. Hope that this time around the Spurs will get it right against the Lakers and not wilt like a flower that hasn't seen a drop of water in weeks. Hope that perhaps the NBA title will return to San Antonio for the first time since 1999 when the Spurs knocked off the Knicks to cap a lockout-shortened season.

Hope is a good thing for the Spurs to have, but I would be more inclined to believe they were destined for a better fate had they not let an opportunity slip away on Sunday.

The Lakers were ripe for defeat, rusty from an extended layoff. They did not play anywhere near their best basketball of the season. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were not in superstar form, scoring 23 and 20 points, respectively, the Lakers shot just 39 percent as a team and the role players were mostly a non-factor.

And yet, L.A. still won, 86-80, taking early control of the series by winning a game it should have lost.

The Lakers won because Tim Duncan didn't come through when his team needed him to produce. The Most Valuable Player in the NBA scored 26 points on 9-of-30 shooting from the floor and pulled down 21 rebounds, but his efforts were hardly enough to help the Spurs beat the less-than-stellar Lakers.

Duncan did make his contributions count Tuesday, dropping in 27 points and grabbing 17 boards, but his effort would been so much more valuable had it led to the Spurs going home holding a decisive 2-0 edge instead of leaving the city of glamour, glitz and smog with a fragile 1-1 tie.

Don't get me wrong. Forging a split with the Lakers on their home floor is impressive, but the Spurs really needed to win both games in L.A. to prove they are worthy of derailing the Lakers' run at a third consecutive championship.

Sure, Duncan is a great player. His MVP status proves that much. But San Antonio's brightest star has a reputation of lacking the the ability to lead his team to victory when it comes to a challenge as daunting as the Lakers.

The Lakers are the defending champions for a reason, and at their best, they are as good as Tiger Woods at The Masters, Joe Montana in the Super Bowl and Michael Jordan in the NBA Finals.

The bottom line is the Lakers and Spurs are even right now on the scoreboard, but when push comes to shove, look for Shaq and Bryant to remove the Spurs from the postseason picture. Yes, the Lakers might lack an aura of invincibility in this postseason, but they are still good enough to beat San Antonio.

A missed opportunity by the Spurs every so often doesn't hurt their cause either.

Brian Lester is a sports writer in Ohio and can be reached via e-mail at BAL4@hotmail.com.