GAME 5

Spurs 93

Nets 83

It’s not impossible. But then neither is hitting the moon with a spitball. But the chances of the Nets going to San Antonio and winning twice are roughly equivalent to a carrot winning the Nobel Prize.

Or even worse, the Nets shooting a quality percentage.

Suffocating under a blanket of missed shots in a .351 performance and an avalanche of Tim Duncan’s 29 points and 17 rebounds, the Nets found themselves with absolutely no margin for error in the Finals’ last two games – if there are two games left – as the Spurs defended their way to a 3-2 series lead with a 93-83 victory last night at the Meadowlands.

“We did the same damn thing that we’ve been doing. Played a little coach, played a little zone. Teams that make stops win games,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

San Antonio can clinch their second title in five years tomorrow night in San Antonio, where they hope to leave the Nets disappointed in the Finals for a second straight year. The Lakers swept the Nets last year.

The Nets will try to extend it to a seventh game, but no Finals team has won Games 6 and 7 on the road. Jason Kidd gave the Nets a gritty 29-point, 7-assist, 7-rebound effort, but he did not take a fourth-quarter shot.

He had little support most of the night. Kenyon Martin, weakened by a stomach virus and plagued by fouls, grabbed nine rebounds and scored just four points.

Richard Jefferson caught fire late, scoring 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. For the Spurs, Malik Rose and Manu Ginobili combined for 26 bench points, and Tony Parker, after a dragging start, scored 14. The Spurs got a key effort from veteran Steve Kerr, who scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter.

“I’d rather be where we are than where they are,” said Duncan. “We seemed to get a lead and give it back, get a lead and give it back. Steve Kerr gave us a big fourth quarter.”

The Nets looked ready for the embalming fluid when Duncan scored from the left baseline with 6:25 to go. That put the Spurs up, 76-67. Considering the wretched state of the Nets’ shooting, suffice to say Vegas wasn’t laying favorable odds for a comeback.

But Richard Jefferson ignited a comeback. He had a three-point play at 6:05, two free throws at 5:32 and, after an Aaron Williams put-back, a transition score (flubbing the free throw for another possible three-point play). Suddenly, it was 78-76.

But then just as suddenly, it was 85-76, Spurs. Duncan hit two free throws and, after a weakened Martin committed consecutive turnovers, Kerr bagged a 3-pointer and Manu Ginobili drove successfully for the nine-point lead. Game. -30-

The third quarter ran a gamut of highs and lows, like every game in the series. When Kidd rediscovered his shot, the Nets twice took one-point leads. But with Martin picking up his third and fourth fouls 21 seconds apart, the Nets seemed to lose some juice, and the joint went silent when Martin picked up No. 5 with 9:54 left the fourth.

The Spurs gained some momentum when Parker finally gave them an option other than Duncan. The Nets were within one before the Spurs rattled off the last eight points of the third quarter, four by Parker, for a 66-57 lead entering the fourth.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Nets, in their throwback 1976 uniforms, started strong behind Kidd but soon hit a ridiculous shooting drought.

You should be stopping us.

The groundwork of a dismal .263-shooting first half came in a horrible span of 7:02 that bridged the first and second quarters. It saw the Nets hurl 11 consecutive bricks against the San Antonio zone, forming the basis of the Spurs’ 42-34 halftime lead.

From a Kidd 3-pointer at 2:36 of the first quarter that gave the Nets a 17-15 lead until a drive by Aaron Williams at 7:24 when they were in the process of battling back from a seven-point deficit, the Nets managed two free-throw points while the Spurs put 10 points on the board.

The Nets closed the half 10-for-38, going 6-for-19 in the first quarter then performing the near impossible – they were worse in the second, 4-of-19.

“We could use more transition buckets. And 3-pointers always help. But our shots are not bad, they’re open,” Kittles said. “We’re not making them. We’re definitely getting shots. They’re just not going down.”

The game began with Kidd looking like a guy who simply was not going to let the Nets lose this one. He bagged his first four shots, propelling the Nets to a 14-9 lead. Then the drought and famine settled in, affecting Kidd as much as anyone; he was 1-of-9 the rest of the half.