SAN ANTONIO (AP) – It looked like last season all over again.

Just like in the 2002 playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs let a double-digit lead over the Los Angeles Lakers dissolve to one point in the fourth quarter.

But this time the finish was different as the Spurs pulled out an 87-82 victory Monday night in the opening game of their Western Conference semifinal series.

Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal fouled out with more than three minutes to play, and San Antonio then took advantage of its size to counter Kobe Bryant’s outside shooting.

O’Neal, who fouled out of a playoff game for the first time in his career, had 24 points and 21 rebounds.

A 3-pointer by Bryant brought Los Angeles within 85-82 with 1:08 left in the game.

That was the last field goal of the game, as the scoring ended with a free throw by Tony Parker after a technical foul against Robert Horry and a free throw by David Robinson with 9.9 seconds left.

Bryant led all scorers with 37 points.

Tim Duncan, who received his MVP trophy before the game, had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Spurs, while Manu Ginobili had 15 points, including two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Neither team shot well in the first half, which ended with the Spurs leading 38-35 on a buzzer-beating, 40-foot heave by 40-year-old Kevin Willis.

San Antonio extended the lead to as many as 11 points late in the third quarter when Ginobili hit his second 3-pointer of the period at 1:52.

No one in the SBC Center was surprised when the Lakers went right to O’Neal, who missed a 10-foot baseline turnaround in the opening seconds. On San Antonio’s first possession, Duncan fed Robinson for a dunk. The Spurs were also predictable early, however, with Duncan scoring eight of his team’s next 10 points.

At the other end, O’Neal kept getting the ball in close but Robinson bodied up on him with some success despite the 70-pound weight difference. O’Neal was 5-of-12 from the field in the first half, with all but one of his baskets coming on a dunk or layup.

Bryant struggled offensively in the half, making only six of his 19 field goal attempts.

Duncan’s putback of a missed layup by Speedy Claxton gave San Antonio its largest lead of the half, 30-22 with 5:45 left.

But Bryant answered with a 3-pointer from the wing and then added a three-point play to key a Lakers rally that was capped by a putback dunk by O’Neal that tied the game at 35 with 36 seconds remaining.