The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - The task facing the Los Angeles Lakers against the San Antonio Spurs seems nearly impossible.

The Lakers must win four of five games from a team that's taken 17 straight and hasn't lost since late March.

The first step is not looking at it that way.

"They're due for a loss, man," Lakers forward Rick Fox said Thursday of the Spurs. "We are due to play a much better game. We're confident we're not out of the series."

The Lakers had opportunities to win the first two games in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal in San Antonio, but their inability to finish led to a pair of 10-point losses.

Games 3 and 4 will be played Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

"Things can change quickly, so we have to keep our wits about us, try to stay composed and do the things we normally do and hope that the shots continue to go down," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

His team is 6-0 in the playoffs after winning its last 11 games of the regular season.

Only seven teams in NBA playoff history have rallied from 2-0 deficits to win a best-of-seven series.

"They're OK," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of his players. "We did this last year."

After losing the first two games of the conference semifinals in San Antonio last May, the Lakers won the next two at Staples Center.

The Spurs won Games 5 and 6 en route to the championship, but it might have been a different story had Robert Horry's 3-pointer in the final seconds of Game 5 not rattled in-and-out, leaving San Antonio with a 96-94 victory.