Maybe they are closing the old building just in time. For most of the 30-plus years the Lakers called the Great Western Forum home, the only people who showed up late and left early were season ticket-holders. But now that maddening habit has spread from the seats to the Los Angeles bench. For the second year running, the Lakers got a jump on summer tee times by losing four playoff games in a row. It might be easier to take if they were slow to surrender, or even a little bit less talented. There is no consolation, after all, being the NBA's best team on paper if you always fold. Last year, it was the Utah Jazz who learned exactly when and where to apply the pressure. This year, it was San Antonio. The Spurs closed out Game 4 with a late run, the same way they closed out Games 1, 2 and 3. The only difference is that they took the suspense out earlier, running off 13 straight points at the start of the fourth quarter instead of at the end. Even so, Lakers coach Kurt Rambis said afterward, ``I'm not going to question our players' efforts.'' He may be the only person in America who watched the game that doesn't. It may also be why the word ``interim'' is still part of Rambis' title. ``We simply got beat,'' he added, ``by a better team.'' It's funny Rambis should take so long to figure that out. He was an assistant when Del Harris got axed early in the season, when the Lakers were a collection of talented individuals who wouldn't share a basketball. Then the Dennis Rodman chemistry exam failed, Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell got exiled to Charlotte, and what remained was a different collection of talents -- still without an idea of how to share the ball. Everybody looking in on the job Phil Jackson used to have -- coaching Michael Jordan and the Bulls -- thought they could do it, but plenty of his peers knew better. Sometimes the hardest coaching job is simply making sure the sum isn't less than the individual parts. At the end of the San Antonio series, the Lakers owned the most dominant big man in the game, Shaquille O'Neal; one of the top half-dozen ``2'' guards in the game, Kobe Bryant; and probably the best pure shooter in the NBA, Glen Rice. Given that, somebody asked Rambis after Game 3 how the Spurs kept winning. ``They're forcing us to do other things than what we have grown to be as a team,'' he said. Translation? San Antonio challenged the Lakers to play defense and make free throws. The first requires sacrifice. The second requires hours of tedious practice. The Lakers do neither well. ``I feel bad because we still never learned to play together, to play smart,'' O'Neal said. He has been in the league for six years now. Five of those seasons ended with his team being swept in a playoff series. In the sixth, his team was beaten 4-1. Watch Shaq at the end of a close game and this does not seem coincidental. He changes from the ``go-to'' guy to a gone one. O'Neal is either missing free throws or hiding in the offense, so he doesn't get fouled and have to miss them. A few years ago, preparing for life after Jordan, the NBA threw its considerable marketing muscle behind O'Neal. He isn't particularly entertaining, playing in the low post with a few moves, but he seemed big and effective enough to decide games. Then the Hack-a-Shaq defense made it very easy to neutralize him. In the meantime, Tim Duncan joined the Spurs and quietly evolved into the league's best big man. He came in with an all-around game, but not surprising the one area he's improved most was at the free-throw line. As a senior, he barely topped 60 percent; during the playoffs, he's shooting 80 percent. What put him over the top, though, was teammate David Robinson. Robinson was one of the best big men in the league a while ago, but after playing alongside Duncan, he was smart enough to take on a new role. Sometimes, it meant taking the tough defensive assignments to free up Duncan. Other times, it meant giving up his own scoring and rebounding totals to win. That lesson never took hold in Los Angeles this season, and might never with this bunch. On Sunday the Spurs rolled out to a quick 13-6 lead and Rambis called time out. In quick succession, Bryant's sloppy pass was converted into a basket by Robinson and a short Duncan jumper was sandwiched between two more Laker turnovers. As the camera zeroed in on Rambis, he stared vacantly into the stands, probably hoping that owner Jerry Buss, like his Lakers, was among the late-arriving. ------ Jim Litke is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at: jlitke@ap.org. -=-=- 