The San Antonio Spurs advanced to the NBA finals with a crushing 109-84 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each scored 21 points, helping the Spurs clinch the Western Conference series 4-1 and book a place in the NBA finals for the third time in five seasons.

The Spurs will play either the Detroit Pistons or the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals, which start on June 7 in San Antonio. The Pistons and Cavaliers are tied 2-2 in the Eastern Conference finals.

For the Spurs this will be their fourth appearance in the final.

They won the NBA title in 1999, 2003 and 2005, but lost in the second round of the 2004 play-offs and the Western Conference semi-finals in 2006.


Disgruntled Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said he wanted to be transferred from the NBA team before dramatically changing his mind a few hours later.

Bryant's surprising about-turn was sparked by a conversation with Lakers head coach Phil Jackson.

Bryant, who helped the Lakers win three consecutive NBA titles from 2000-2002, has been frustrated by the team's lack of success over the last three seasons.

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