When the assault on the rim was finally over, when the last inept Nets offensive sequence mercifully came to an end, the Spurs last night prevailed because they had Tim Duncan and the Nets did not.

Duncan lifted his team out of danger in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, rising when so many players around him were falling. For long, laborious stretches Duncan and Jason Kidd dueled while those around them stood and watched.

Kidd was magnificent, but so too was Duncan, who will soon add the Finals MVP to his 2002-03 NBA Most Valuable Player award if the Spurs do the expected and secure the title back home in San Antonio. They are one win away after their 93-83 victory at the Meadowlands in another sluggish, tight affair that once again highlighted Duncan’s brilliance.

Duncan (29 points, 17 rebounds) received slightly more help than Kidd (29 points in the full 48 minutes), who through three quarters had 26 points but only two assists, proof that he had no one to lean on.

Of all the Duncan exploits, this one may have been the best: With 6:24 remaining, Duncan on the left baseline, from behind the basket, turned and lofted a jumper that kissed off the rim and dropped in to give the Spurs a 76-67 lead.

At times, the presence of Duncan is all it took to hurt the Nets. Giving up height and weight, Kenyon Martin bumped and battled Duncan much of the night, and late in the third quarter the contact attracted a whistle from referee Bennett Salvatore. Incensed, Martin waved his arms in disgust and Salvatore nailed him with a technical. Twenty-one seconds later, Martin was hit with his fourth foul, again bodying up on Duncan.