Kobe Bryant Scores 40 Makes Lakers Win

The basketball fans soared high kickin' some buts when the Lakers struggled to the end of the regular season and then were dominated in Games 3 and 4 by Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs. But, we're seven games removed from that and it was also the last time the defending NBA champions lost.

Kobe Bryant started playing like Kobe Bryant again as Los Angeles Lakers' 128-107 win over the Phoenix Suns, Kobe Bryant had 40 points, including a remarkable 21 points in the third quarter of the Western Conference finals opener. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday at Staples Center.

It really wasn't much of a game once Kobe Bryant took over. It was the fifth consecutive game in which Bryant has scored more than 30 points. He scored his 40 on 13-of-23 shooting from the field while making 11 of 12 from the line. He made three of six three-pointers.

Perhaps the greatest praise for Kobe Bryant came from two-time MVP Steve Nash of the Suns, who was held to a below-average 13 points.

"I don't think we sent him to the line a lot," Phoenix Suns' player Steve Nash said. "I don't think we let him inside a lot, but still he scored a ton." Kobe Bryant played only 35 minutes as he left the game with about nine minutes to play and nothing left to prove. As the game wound down, even the normally nervous Lakers crowd started to loosen up, chanting: "We want Boston."

The Boston Celtics have a 1-0 lead over the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals, with Game 2 on Tuesday.

"Kobe had an outstanding game," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said in an understatement of fact. "Pau (Gasol) played a fine game and so did Lamar (Odom)."

Pau Gasol contributed 21 points while Odom had 19 points and 19 rebounds. "Kobe carried a lot of the offense tonight," Phil Jackson said. "He came in and was going to shoulder the game."

Kobe Bryant's health is a constant topic around Los Angeles. The Times reported on Monday that he recently had a "significant" amount of fluid drained from his knee, something Phil Jackson verified although he said it was not done this past weekend.

And Kobe Bryant certainly made everyone forget about his date with a syringe early when he came out and scored 11 points in the first quarter. But there was an anxious moment with 1:46 left in the opening period when he slipped as he drove down the lane and fell on his injured knee. It hushed the sellout crowd of 18,997. But what was hurting him was his head, which banged into Phoenix guard Jason Richardson as he fell.

How did he respond? He got up, stayed in the game and sank a 17-footer at the buzzer. It was that kind of game for Bryant.

"When he's making those shots, there's not a whole lot more you can do about it," said Suns Coach Alvin Gentry.

"Every time he plays, he takes it personal. . . . He knows how important the first thing is."

Amare Stoudemire was the main reason the Suns were only seven points behind at the half before Kobe Bryant took over in the third. Stoudemire scored 15 of his 23 points in the first half and was the Suns' leading scorer. Richardson added 15 points with Robin Lopez contributed 14.

Besides Kobe Bryant, another subplot around Los Angeles has been the future of Jackson. He is in the last year of a contract that pays him $12 million a year. He said he would decide his future after the playoffs but in a radio interview he did before the weekend he said he was leaning toward retiring.

Is Lakers Ready For The Western Conference Finals?

Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant recently had fluid drained from his right knee and has not practiced in the week since their last game, and Andrew Bynum says his torn knee cartilage feels a little worse. Both will try to shake off their injuries Monday when Lakers face Phoenix in Game 1.

The Lakers haven't played since completing a sweep of Utah a week ago, but the circumstances are more considerable, the results more weighty when they begin the Western Conference finals Monday against the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center.

They're four victories away from a 31st appearance in the NBA Finals, but they'll get there only if Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum shake off knee injuries that have basically kept them off the practice court the last week. Kobe Bryant recently had a significant amount of fluid drained from his swollen right knee, The Times has learned, and hasn't practiced since the last round. Andrew Bynum practiced only once and said the torn cartilage in his right knee was "getting a little worse" after making it through Saturday's scrimmage.

Ready or not, here come the run-and-gun Suns.

"We need some different company out on the court," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said with a smile Sunday after yet another day of practice.

Phil Jackson was a little more somber when discussing Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, the former averaging a solid 32 points a game in the conference semifinals, the latter totaling only six points the last two games against the Jazz.

Jackson, on Bryant: "He came out [Sunday] and shot a little bit and tried to get in rhythm. We hope that he's on board and his game is right at that point where it needs to be."

Jackson, on Bynum: "I thought he played well [Saturday] and we're hopeful that he's going to be at that level."

Neither Kobe Bryant nor Andrew Bynum spoke to reporters Sunday, but it's been unusual to see Bryant off to the side watching and Bynum padding around in flip-flops as teammates run up and down the court at the team's El Segundo training facility.

Their teammates have shrugged off their absence.

"At this point of the year, we need those guys during the game," forward Lamar Odom said. "If they've got something that's ailing or something that's aching, that's bothering them, I'd much rather have them ready for game time."

Phoenix Suns won't take pity on the Lakers, bringing an offense that created a sweep in the last round, the Suns throttling the San Antonio Spurs behind the ageless legs of Steve Nash, the lively pick-and-roll game of Amare Stoudemire and the suddenly consistent shooting of Jason Richardson.

The Suns are shooting an impressive 41.7% from three-point range and averaging 105.8 points in the playoffs, almost five more than the Lakers. They will push the pace with the ever-crafty Nash in an up-tempo offense that somehow has a degree of control to it.

"It's not so full-out run as, say, Oklahoma [City]," Jackson said. "This team has some sense behind what they're doing on their runs."

The Lakers will counter by pounding the ball down low to Pau Gasol and, if possible, Andrew Bynum. They also have put a premium on getting offensive rebounds to limit the Suns' fastbreak opportunities.

"That's something we're going to focus on," Lamar Odom said.

The Suns will have gone eight days since their last game, one more than the Lakers, and they'll have a minor slice of history on their side, having eliminated the Lakers in the first round in 2006 and 2007.

Clippers Wins Against Lakers With 107-91

Bad day for the Lakers, who lost another player to injury, got drilled by their cross-town rival and angered the NBA basketball All-Star forward on the team they'll face in the first round of the playoffs. Since the LA Laker's Ace star Kobe Bryant sat out for the fourth time in five games to rest several injuries, including a swollen right knee and a broken finger on his right shooting hand and a Andrew Bynum missed his 13th straight game with a strained left Achilles'.

Clippers star player Steve Blake scored 23 points as part of his first career triple-double, Chris Kaman added 22 points and the Clippers beat the Lakers 107-91 Wednesday night. Steve Blake finished with 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Clippers, who ended with a 29-53 record to miss the postseason for the 15th time in 17 years. Interim coach Kim Hughes' contract ends June 30, and he doesn't know if he'll be back next season.

"It was a great way to end the season,We were a well-balanced team all the way around." Steve Blake said.

On the Lakers side, Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 21 points despite being in foul trouble. Pau Gasol had 18 points and 17 rebounds, and Shannon Brown added 18 starting in place of Kobe Bryant. However, Sasha Vujacic didn't return after spraining his right ankle in the second quarter. Lakers spokesman said it was severe, although X-rays were negative. He'll have an MRI on Thursday. He left the locker room on crutches and was driven off in a cart.

The Lakers finished the regular season with a 3-6 skid and lost Sasha Vujacic to a high ankle sprain when he landed on the foot of Clippers guard Mardy Collins after a shot with 2:51 left in the second quarter. Sasha Vujacic was helped off the court by trainer Gary Vitti and reserve guard Jordan Farmar, who sustained an injury of his own the previous night with a strained left hamstring and played 1.3 seconds against the Clippers so he could officially say he played all 82 regular-season games. 

 

"He could miss the first round, It'll hurt." Said LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The Lakers finished with a 57-25 record and the No. 1 seed in the West. The defending champions have lost six of 10 heading into the playoffs. They will face No. 8 seed Oklahoma City beginning Sunday at Staples Center.

"I said at the start of the season if we don't win 60 games, we'll be disappointed, and we're disappointed in our team's effort at the end of the season," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

The Clippers dominated the fourth quarter, hitting four 3-pointers — three by Blake — to pull away in what was a tight game until early in the third. The Lakers trailed by three to start the third quarter, but were outscored 15-5 as the Clippers built the first of two 13-point leads. From there, the teams each scored 11 points to close the period, with the Clippers ahead 78-65.

NBA Star Kobe Bryant Will Not Play For Final 2 Game

Shortly after proclaiming to reporters Sunday he would play the Lakers' final two regular-season games, guard Kobe Bryant sent a text message at 8 p.m. to LA Lakers Coach Phil Jackson that suggested otherwise. He sat out games last week at Denver and Minnesota to rest his finger, along with a swollen right knee and a sprained ankle. 
 

That means the next time Kobe Bryant suits up will be Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs, an absence a team spokesman said was because of Bryant's four-month-old fractured right index finger. After the Portland game Kobe Bryant told reporters he planned on playing in Los Angeles' last 2 games this week to "sharpen up" against Sacramento and against the Clippers but the 12-time All-Star changed his mind Sunday night, relaying in a text message to head coach Phil Jackson that he "probably shouldn't play the last two games the way he felt," Jackson said. 
 

LA Lakers 12-time All-Star Kobe Bryant, who didn't talk to reporters after Monday's practice, has felt dinged up all season, playing through assorted injuries including a fractured right index finger, back spasms, a sprained left ankle and a sore right elbow. He recently sat out two games because of a swollen right knee, only to return Sunday in the Lakers' 91-88 loss to Portland. In that contest, Bryant scored 20 points on only eight of 23 shooting and missed two key free throws in the final minute. 
 

LA Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has also played through a strained right elbow, lower back spasms and a strained groin at various points of the season. Kobe Bryant ticked past the vaunted 1,000 career-games plateau this season and has played 44 playoff games over the course of the past two postseasons, in addition to his service to USA Basketball in the 2007 FIBA Americas championship in Las Vegas and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

He ended his consecutive games played streak of 235, the fifth longest among current NBA players at the time, because of his left ankle injury, missing five games plus the NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium, a spectacle played in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a basketball game.

"A lot of it I think was Kobe's choices of shots, specifically referring to his guard's 8-for-23 shooting total Sunday, stretching Bryant's three-game shooting slump to a dismal 21-for-70 (30 percent). "He's taken some tougher than natural or normal type of shooting chances and I think that's contributed to his poor shooting." LA Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

Kobe Bryant has an avulsion fracture, in which a tiny fragment of bone tears away near a tendon or ligament. The former MVP has been slowed by the injury since he first broke it in a game against the Timberwolves in early December. Kobe Bryant hurt the top joint on the index finger on his right hand while reaching for a pass along with Minnesota's Ryan Gomes.

The defending champion LA Lakers are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Kobe Bryant was the highest vote getter in the Western Conference. He will be replaced by a hometown player — Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks. Also out is Allen Iverson, due to a family matter, to be replaced by the Knicks David Lee.

Kobe Bryant sprained his ankle when Lamar Odom stepped on his foot during the LA Lakers win over Charlotte. He sat out the next three games, saying his ankle was too sore to push off and run on. The Lakers still won those three games, with Pau Gasol leading the way and improved Lakers defense over all.