(by J.A. Adande)
This column could have been about a number of things, such as Karl Malone's
macho afternoon or Gary Payton's re-introduction to the fourth quarter, or even
the perils of the Lakers' near choke job. As they all seem to be eventually,
this column is about Kobe Bryant.
He stole it, just as he stole this game and this series away from the Houston
Rockets in the span of about 37 seconds in overtime Sunday.
Bryant rescued himself from another round of questions about his poor shoot-
ing in this game and the series, bailed out the Lakers from two days of
explaining how they could blow a 14-point lead in the final 13 minutes of
regulation and quite possibly saved the Lakers the time and energy of having to
come back here for Game 6.
Bryant took medication for stomach problems early in the morning, took flak
from his coach for his decision making in the afternoon, took drops after
getting poked in the eye in the fourth quarter, and through it all took shot
after shot.
He fired up 21 in all, including one at the end of the fourth quarter when
his vision was so blurry he said he saw three baskets. He missed that one and
13 others.
In the end, the only ones that mattered were the last two.
"You just put the rest of the game behind you," Bryant said. "It all comes
down to this. You just put everything behind you. You step up and do your best.
I love those situations. That's what I do best for this team.
"It's an adrenaline rush. It's addicting.
"Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't. The key is to have the
confidence to shoot them. Not be nervous."
Sometimes it's because he's a stubborn guy, as he explained when he ended his
media boycott Friday. He always thinks his way is the best way, whether it's
shooting on an off day, trying to toss an alley-oop to Shaquille O'Neal through
a crowd (which particularly irked Coach Phil Jackson) or attempting to beat
double-teams with the dribble instead of a pass.
But something always seems to click in when it matters most.
With the Lakers trailing by one point and 1:17 remaining in overtime, Bryant
deflected a pass by his man, Jim Jackson, gained control of the ball and headed
toward the other end of the court, banking home a running jumper against three
Rocket defenders. It ended his run of seven consecutive missed shots that began
in the fourth quarter.
Steve Francis tied the score with a free throw with 56 seconds left. On the
Lakers' next possession, Bryant drove into the lane, hung, was bumped by
Houston's Maurice Taylor and threw the ball in the basket.
Bryant landed on the ground, sat up, calmly pointed his finger.
Count it.
He made the free throw and gave the Lakers a three-point lead that Malone
made stand with a steal, a rebound and a free throw.
They led by 14 late in the third, after finally displaying some championship
characteristics such as hustle, communication, patience and execution. All four
came into play on one play in the third quarter. Devean George (who played well
after starting in place of an ineffective Rick Fox) ran to save a missed shot
before it went out of bounds, yelling "I got it, G, I got it!" before flipping
it to Payton. Payton dribbled around and passed to Slava Medvedenko, who passed
to Bryant, who passed to Malone. Malone gave it back to Bryant, then held out
his hands to say, "stay cool."
That's exactly what Bryant did. He dribbled to his right, got past a double-
team by Francis and Cuttino Mobley, started toward the lane and drew the
attention of Yao. Bryant did the math, saw three defenders around him and
passed out to a wide-open Payton for a three-pointer that put the Lakers ahead,
69-55.
Then the Lakers could not exhibit another important trait, poise under
pressure, as their offense couldn't convert and their defense turned Sacramento
-soft in the middle as the Rockets rallied to tie the score in regulation and
take a four-point lead in overtime.
And then it became Kobe Time. Sooner or later, it always is.
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