The last time there was a lockout in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals to cap a 50-game regular season in 1998-99.

Tim Duncan was in his second season with the Spurs, but David Robinson and Sean Elliott were in their 10th seasons and Steve Kerr was in his 11th.

The Knicks had a similarly veteran team, led by Patrick Ewing in his 14th season, Larry Johnson in his eighth, Latrell Sprewell in his seventh and Allan Houston in his sixth.

So it would stand to reason that veteran teams like the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers or Miami Heat would have an edge in this shortened season, right?

Not necessarily, according to Cavaliers assistant coach Paul Pressey. He and Cavs assistant Joe Prunty were assistants on that San Antonio championship team. Asked for the key to the Spurs’ victory that season, Pressey smiled and said, “I thought we were lucky, right place right time, playing well at the right time.”

If luck is all it takes, that probably makes the shamrock-wearing Celtics the favorites. But older teams such as Boston know how to pace themselves throughout the regular season, even one as compacted as this one. Talented teams such as Miami that haven’t made a lot of changes don’t have to make a lot of adjustments.

Then again, shouldn’t teams with young stars and young legs – Derrick Rose’s Chicago Bulls or Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder, for example – have an advantage when teams basically will be playing every other night from now until late June? Teams such as the Celtics and Lakers are going to go through a lot of heating pads and Ben Gay from now until then, right?

“I don’t think injuries are going to be an issue,” NBA TV analyst Chris Webber said in a conference call with the media before the season started. “You really can’t predict who is going to get hurt.

“The biggest difference on who will have the advantage is how well the teams know each other.”

That would point to the Celtics and Lakers again. But don’t underestimate last season’s finalists – the Mavericks and Heat – or their conference final opponents – the Thunder and the Bulls in the West and East, respectively.

Of those six teams, the defending champion Mavericks made the most significant changes, losing free agents Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea, two big keys to the Mavericks’ victory.

“While it’s too early to tell who has the clear advantage, I will say that being a big fan of Dallas, I think they let the goods get away,” Webber said in the conference call. “I think that Tyson Chandler is a game-changer and he’s the only reason they won the championship last year.”

Some of the most interesting teams likely will be in the West, including the Los Angeles Clippers, the New Orleans Hornets and even the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Clippers, of course, got Chris Paul from the Hornets to team with high-flying Blake Griffin. The re-made Hornets got guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and center Chris Kaman, along with a first-round draft choice.

Minnesota hired veteran coach Rick Adelman, who likely will bring some order to the talented-but-underachieving Wolves. Minnesota brought in first-round draft choice Derrick Williams, picked second overall behind the Cavs Kyrie Irving, to join Kevin Love, Michael Beasley and Barea, and 2009 first-round draft pick Ricky Rubio also will join the team for the first time.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mschmitt@plaind.com, 216-999-4668

On Twitter: @pdcavsinsider

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (AP) — Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs scored 23 points and Argentina remained unbeaten with an 81-74 victory over Puerto Rico on Friday night in the Olympic qualifying tournament for the Americas.

Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets added 16 points for Argentina (3-0).

“It’s really great to play in this place with people that encourage you in this way,” Ginobili said of Argentina’s home-country advantage.

Carlos Arroyo, who played with the Boston Celtics, had 24 points for Puerto Rico (3-1).

“It’s a little bit disappointing to lose, but we faced a team that plays with a lot of passion,” Arroyo said.

In other games Friday, Dominican Republic (3-1) beat Brazil (2-1) 79-74; Uruguay (1-2) defeated Panama (1-2) 77-61; and Canada (2-1) eliminated Cuba (0-3) with an 84-62 victory.

The top two teams in the 10-nation field receive berths in the London Olympics. The next three teams advance to a final Olympic qualifier.

The first round ends Saturday and the top four teams in each five-team group advances to the second round.

Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks had 22 points, including going 3 of 3 from 3-point range. Dominican Republic, which is coached by Kentucky’s John Calipari, bounced back from Thursday’s 73-72 loss to Canada.

“Horford was inspired,” Brazil coach Ruben Magnano said. “We couldn’t get hold of the ball and get rebounds and we also made some pretty childish turnovers.”

Jevohn Shepherd scored 13 points and Jermaine Anderson added 11 for Canada.

Cuba became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament.

“We are an amateur team with a lot of desire to learn because we are ambitious, ” Cuba coach Ariel Amarillo said. “I go away less hurt because the players left nothing out there; they played like Cubans, with lots of heart and sacrifice.”

SAN ANTONIO – The Boston Celtics finally got a big win and their big man back. They might also reclaim the No. 1 seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.

And the San Antonio Spurs, at this dismal rate, might give away first place in the Western Conference.

Rajon Rondo had 22 points and 14 assists, center Jermaine O’Neal returned from knee surgery, and the Celtics ended a miserable March by not slipping farther from first in the East, beating the slumping Spurs 107-97 Thursday night.

Paul Pierce added 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Kevin Garnett scored 20. The Celtics won for just the second time in five games and, ending a 9-7 March, moved within two games of the Chicago Bulls for the East’s No. 1 playoff seed with eight games to go.

“This is a good place to try and gather some momentum,” Pierce said. “You talk about the team with the best record. What better place to get back on track than here?”

Yet these days, San Antonio’s luster isn’t what it used to be.

The Spurs lost their fifth straight – their longest skid all season – and the timing couldn’t be worse. San Antonio has seven games left but is in danger of falling out of first place after comfortably being No. 1 in the West all season.

San Antonio’s woes have renewed hopes the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas have of taking the top spot. The Lakers were three games back and hosted the Mavericks – who were 3½ games behind the Spurs – late Thursday.

“Of course we want to be No. 1. We don’t want to give it away just because we like being underdogs,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “We want to win it. We put ourselves in an unbelievable situation.”

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points. Tim Duncan returned after missing the last four games with a sprained ankle and had 20 points and 13 rebounds.