RSS Feeds
Lakers' Kobe Bryant draws the line again and again
His franchise-playoff record 21 made free throws are what makes the difference in Sunday's Lakers' victory over the Utah Jazz. Coach Phil Jackson calls it the team's 'biggest scoring threat.'
Twenty-three times Sunday, the Utah Jazz left Kobe Bryant wide open.
Twenty-three times, the bumping, bruising Utah Jazz stood still and just let him shoot.
Twenty-one times, Kobe Bryant scored.
Twenty-one times, he jabbed a 10-foot sword into a puffed-out chest.
And basketball folks still have the nerve to call it a free throw?
Not here. Not Sunday. Not Kobe.
The final score in the first game of the Western Conference semifinals was 109-98, but the bottom line was the foul line.
Bryant got there because he was one of the few Lakers comfortable driving through the lane and into its resident giants Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur.
"It's nice . . . it's a chance to bang," Bryant said.
Then, once at the line, Bryant tugged on his shirt and smoothed his stroke and just kept swishing them. Or was that the exhale of a Jazz team that wilted with each point?
"It was our biggest scoring threat of the night," Coach Phil Jackson said.
Kids, please, do try this at home.
Bryant made a franchise playoff-record 21 free throws in 23 tries, including his first 18.
Most impressive, in the fourth quarter, with the Jazz closing to four points as Bryant made only one of six shots from the field?
He made six of eight free throws to clinch it.
The easiest of shots. The most exhausting of shots.
Bryant's free throws wiped out the Jazz, which walked out with 17 more rebounds but one fat loss.
"When he's getting to the line that much and making all those shots, it makes him very, very tough to stop," said Utah's Kyle Korver, shaking his head.
The simplest of tasks. The most inspirational of tasks.
Bryant's free throws buoyed a Lakers team that spent most of the game doubled over in the pain and embarrassment of being pushed around on nearly every possession.
Twenty-three times, the bumping, bruising Utah Jazz stood still and just let him shoot.
Twenty-one times, he jabbed a 10-foot sword into a puffed-out chest.
And basketball folks still have the nerve to call it a free throw?
Not here. Not Sunday. Not Kobe.
The final score in the first game of the Western Conference semifinals was 109-98, but the bottom line was the foul line.
Bryant got there because he was one of the few Lakers comfortable driving through the lane and into its resident giants Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur.
"It's nice . . . it's a chance to bang," Bryant said.
Then, once at the line, Bryant tugged on his shirt and smoothed his stroke and just kept swishing them. Or was that the exhale of a Jazz team that wilted with each point?
"It was our biggest scoring threat of the night," Coach Phil Jackson said.
Kids, please, do try this at home.
Bryant made a franchise playoff-record 21 free throws in 23 tries, including his first 18.
Most impressive, in the fourth quarter, with the Jazz closing to four points as Bryant made only one of six shots from the field?
He made six of eight free throws to clinch it.
The easiest of shots. The most exhausting of shots.
Bryant's free throws wiped out the Jazz, which walked out with 17 more rebounds but one fat loss.
"When he's getting to the line that much and making all those shots, it makes him very, very tough to stop," said Utah's Kyle Korver, shaking his head.
The simplest of tasks. The most inspirational of tasks.
Bryant's free throws buoyed a Lakers team that spent most of the game doubled over in the pain and embarrassment of being pushed around on nearly every possession.
- Single Page
- |
- 1
- |
- 2
- |
- 3
- |
- Next »
Daily dispatches from Times staff writers leading up to the Summer Games.
The autos news and information source for Southern California.
Photo Gallery