DENVER -He can't do everything.
But if the Lakers are going to advance to the NBA finals, Kobe Bryant might just have to.
Over four desperate minutes late in Monday night's 120-101 loss to Denver, Bryant took the first shot on seven straight Los Angeles possessions, made it to the line six times and scored 13 points in a futile attempt to catch up.
The rest of the Lakers' production: four free throws from Pau Gasol.
So, Los Angeles left Denver having regained home-court advantage, but appearing never more dependent on its admittedly exhausted star with the Western Conference finals now tied at 2.
"Yes, those are actions we have to go to and they're drastic actions," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of the Kobe-or-nothing strategy at the end.
A good strategy? That's up for debate. Gasol went 8-for-11 for 21 points. He's shooting 62 percent for the series. But the only way he could get his hands on the ball late in this game was to grab an offensive rebound.
"You tell me," he said. "I don't think there's many people who would say there's something right about it. I wish we would take more advantage of our inside game, because it's pretty effective. It's unfortunate we don't recognize it enough."
Gasol may be effective but he's not a game-changer.
The Lakers only have one of those.
Bryant was attached to an IV in the locker room after Game 3, when he hit a 3-pointer and five free throws late to help the Lakers take a late lead and keep it in a 103-97 win.
He finished with 34 points on Monday and is still averaging 36 for the series.
No comments:
Post a Comment