<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Three shots, three moments:Kobe Bryant pump fakes Anthony Parker into the air, draws contact and gets hammered but still hits a fadeaway line drive that he turns into a three-point play. Kobe Bryant tracks down his own fumble as he's headed into the Raptor bench with the shot clock running down. It's a turnover waiting to happen until he collects the ball, turns and hits a three-pointer with Parker in his face. Kobe Bryant puts on a killer crossover move to leave Carlos Delfino guarding air, splits a couple of Raptor defenders - none of whom were giving Delfino the help he needed - and ends the play with a dunk. There were myriad other moments of exceptional play, too; a handful of shots here, a few assists there, as Bryant put on a brilliant display at the Air Canada Centre last night, scorching the Raptors for 46 points as the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away for a 121-101 victory before a sold-out house of 19,800. "He's Kobe," was how Parker summed it up, and he probably didn't need to say much more. Scoring more points against Toronto than any other player has in any other game this season, Bryant made 19 of 28 field goals while still managing to dish out five assists and grab seven rebounds in a nifty 44 minutes of work. "You can expect for him to hit shots like that," Parker added about Bryant's circus-like efforts. "You can do everything right and he's still going to hit those shots." The real killer was the basket from in front of the Raptor bench, a wild, improbable three-pointer that killed a Toronto run. "Yeah, it was a big momentum shot," said Bryant. "It was one of those shots that kind of takes the air out of the building and it was fortunate for me that it went in." But when you've got Bryant's talent, circus shots seem to be the norm. "You can always say make him catch it further out from the basket but he is the best one-on-one player in the league hands down," said Toronto's Chris Bosh of Bryant. "He knocked a couple of threes down and when we helped, he wasn't selfish with the ball." If there was a bright spot for the Raptors, it was the continued improvement they are seeing from centre Andrea Bargnani. The seven-footer led his team in scoring with a career-high 28 points and that was impressive, but the way he managed it was even more pleasing to coach Sam Mitchell. Instead of simply standing outside the three-point line hoisting jumpers, he drove the ball and worked efficiently in the low post in his most impressive all-around outing in months.</div> Source: The Toronto Star
<span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><div align="center">Kobe toys with Raps</div></span> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>In the list of Top 6 torchings by a Raptors opponent, you now will find Kobe Bryant's name three times. His 46 points last night actually was the smallest offensive outburst in those three games, but it was more than enough to get the Lakers out of town with a 121-101 victory, the first loss by the Raptors on their home court in seven games. Bryant owns the grand-daddy of these pummellings with that unforgettable 81 two years ago at the Staples Centre. He also had 48 against the Raps a little more than three years ago in L.A. Bryant took nine shots that didn't find the mark but it was the 19 that did that had everyone from Sam Mitchell to Andrea Bargnani singing his praises. "He was scoring all the time," Bargnani said. "The times we did stop him he found the open man. They deserved to win."</div> Source: The Toronto Sun <div align="center"> <span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%">Kobe crushes Raptors</span></div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Early in the third quarter last night, Kobe Bryant ambled past Toronto Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell after a timeout and gave a little wink, as if to say, you haven't seen anything yet. Bryant then coolly drained a three-point shot in front of the Raptors' bench to prove it. He made all kinds of other shots, too, as the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers ran over the Raptors 121-101 in front of a star-struck crowd at the Air Canada Centre. His most spectacular, perhaps, was another three-pointer in the dying minutes of the third quarter. He hit an absurdly difficult — for anyone else at least — fall-away shot from the right-hand corner that stunted a Raptors rally and set the tone for the Lakers' breakaway fourth quarter.</div> Source: The Globe & Mail
I was hoping one of the headlines would read: "Kobe rapes Raps." I bet you all the writers wanted to use that one.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Feb 2 2008, 01:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I was hoping one of the headlines would read: "Kobe rapes Raps." I bet you all the writers wanted to use that one.</div> "Kobe bends over Raptors, no lube was present" I posted 3 different sources so we know what happened last night was horrible. I mean, 19/28, is great, but we shouldn't be letting a guy shoot that well. And, so it's Kobe Bryant we know, but what about Odom and Ronny. How do we let them have such good games. Sasha and Rad, they had great games too. Plus, the finals score, 121-101 is worse then it looks.
