Kobe can't close out the Magic

Mamba · Jun 9, 2009

He came out on fire…he ended up flaming out.

He started by making a bunch from the floor … he finished by missing a bunch from the free-throw line.

He was all energy early … he was all empty late.

Kobe Bryant, so often the inhuman highlight film, was oh so human Tuesday, the game’s No. 1 closer this time the victim of someone else’s walk-off dramatics.

“You know,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said after a 108-104 loss to the Magic, “we’re all frail as humans.”

All it means for now is The Finals will be going at least five games. Ultimately, that might be it, nothing more than a blip on the way to the top.

But if the Magic can continue badgering Bryant and he keeps huffing down the stretch and Orlando is making its shots … there’s still a chance this matchup could become quite interesting.

See, even Bryant, who has carried this team – this franchise, actually – for so long now, is still subject to the most basic of man’s needs.

Specifically, we’re talking here about oxygen.

Asked if he felt his star was gassed near the end Tuesday, Jackson said, “Yeah.” Then, after a short pause, he added, “He’ll say ‘no.’ ”

Technically, the coach was wrong; Bryant didn’t say “no.” He said it this way, “I felt OK. I was fine.”

But he played like his game was dragging, a development almost shocking given Bryant’s brilliant late-game resume.

In the fourth quarter, normally his quarter, Bryant missed all three of his 3-point attempts, including a made-for-Kobe killer with two minutes to go that would have tied the score.

He also missed a free throw – his fifth of the game – in the final minute.

He also lost the ball on a subsequent possession, a turnabout that resulted in two Orlando free throws, points that, according to Jackson, “created the gap that made this game impossible to reach.”

Here was Bryant again putting a game beyond a team’s reach. Only this time, that team was the Lakers. See, shocking.

“It was disappointing,” Bryant said. “I’m used to coming through in those situations. The team trusts me to come through in those situations, and it just didn’t happen tonight.”

And all this came after Jackson, sensing Bryant’s fatigue, tried to spell him for as long as possible. Jackson said he planned to keep Bryant on the bench for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.

He waited for as long as four minutes, 47 seconds. That’s when Jackson relented, with the Lakers’ deficit at seven points, 91-84.

He reinserted Bryant and the Lakers managed to catch the Magic at 99-99 with 2:41 remaining. But not enough went right for them after that.

Along with his missed 3-pointer, Bryant fumbled away another critical opportunity in the final minute.

Trailing 104-102, he was dribbling just beyond the top of the key, a spot from which he has begun countless triumphs. But this time he lost the ball when Dwight Howard tipped it away.

“Howard just made a great play with his hands,” Bryant said. “Just made a great play and came up with the ball. Simple as that.”

Well, it wasn’t quite that simple. Pau Gasol, Bryant’s teammate, actually came up with the ball first, diving on the floor to recover it. But his hurried pass to Bryant again got away and Orlando’s Mickael Pietrus secured possession.

Of the ball and the game, leaving Bryant and the Lakers lamenting the chances that literally bounced away from them, like a Spalding off a rim.

After making six of his first seven field goal tries, Bryant hit only five of his next 18. His free throws were more costly throws, Bryant converting only half of the 10 he was awarded.

“My rhythm was off,” he explained. “I just shot poorly from the free-throw line. It was a bad night.”

The performance was so clumsy that Bryant seriously was asked if he was distracted by a man behind one of the baskets waving a red Superman cape.

“Maybe if I saw him, I would have made some (expletive) free throws,” Bryant said. “If I saw him, I would have made a shot. I didn’t see him.”

Bryant had plenty of help in losing this game. Lamar Odom’s string of inspired efforts ended in a display of mostly indifference. No one other than Trevor Ariza had more than four rebounds.

The Magic was permitted to shoot 62.5 percent, the most accurate single-game effort in Finals history.

All totaled, we can now report the Finals shrunk by one “if necessary” Tuesday, the Magic extending the Lakers to at least five games, guaranteed.

Beyond that, who knows? The Lakers remain in control, even if the momentum has shifted.

Bryant looked whipped at the end, but he has a habit of recovering quickly. And he’s only one second wind away from being Kobe Bryant again.
Click to expand...

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bryant-game-lakers-2458094-free-jackson

Mamba · Jun 9, 2009

He'll bounce back in game 4....hopefully.

Moo2K4 · Jun 9, 2009

He'll bounce back. Maybe Phil needs to cut in to his minutes a little so he's fresh for the 4th?

And I don't think the momentum shifted. As me and others have been saying since the game ended, we played one of our worst games of the postseason and they played one of their best and we still almost won. We still have the momentum.

ivey · Jun 10, 2009

Oh yeah no doubt Kobe will bounce back, i expect him to go for 35pts or smth like that. Still getting teammates involved would be great, we won't win with Kobe/Pau duo, Ariza and Odom need to make their contribution too. Too many careless turnovers and missed freethrows, at least our mistakes are something we can correct.

huevonkiller · Jun 10, 2009

I don't know, maybe this is the best thing that could happen to us in a loss?

Mamba · Jun 10, 2009

So far this post season, the Lakers have gotten the big win when they've needed it.

Against Houston, we got game 3 and reclaimed home court.

Against Denver, we got game 3 and reclaimed home court and closed out on the road in game 6.

All we have to do is get one win here in Orlando to go home up 3-2. We'll be fine.

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Kobe can't close out the Magic

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Kobe can't close out the Magic

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Mamba The King is Back Staff Member Global Moderator

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Moo2K4 NBA West Producer

ivey Member

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