Sticking to the Team Plan Is the Way to Go

No more questions, no more analysis. We have the template. It takes less Superman, more Justice League.

The Lakers got a little bit from everybody, a little bit more from Kobe Bryant, and as a result they have a fresh start in this series -- with homecourt advantage to boot.

They don’t need Bryant to score 50 points every night to have a chance. They need what worked pretty well in Game 1 and even better in Game 2. And that’s the restrained Bryant, the one who usually emerges in the playoffs.

After Bryant scored “only” 22 points on “only” 21 shots in Game 1, his style somehow turned into a national debate complete with panel discussions on ESPN.com. The only things missing were the mass demonstrations in downtown L.A.

What people forgot was that this is the Bryant who usually hatches in the spring. In the Laker championship runs of 2001 and 2002, Bryant averaged 22.5 shots a game.

And how many shots has he averaged in this series, which the Lakers evened at 1-1 with a 99-93 victory Wednesday night? That would be 22.5.

“It’s just reading the tempo of the game,” Bryant said. “Reading the defense and attacking teams as a unit. What we did this season, everybody was ... trying to learn the offense. [Coach] Phil [Jackson] and I both knew I was going to have to shoulder the scoring load. In the playoffs, everybody has a rhythm for the game. We just started attacking teams as a unit, not me going out there and trying to score 40 or 50 points.”

Obviously the bulk of the shots back in ’01 and ’02 went to Shaquille O’Neal.

But any big man can look like O’Neal against the Suns’ small front line. If you get production from Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown, it can add up to some Shaquillian numbers, as their combined 35 points and 20 rebounds in Game 1 and 33 and nine in Game 2. Brown’s numbers, in particular, were down in Game 2, but he made up for it by standing as the Lakers’ last line of defense.

And this night really was about defense.

Any time you hold the Suns below 100 points it’s an accomplishment.

Coming in, the Suns probably would have been proud of holding Bryant under 30 points. But it’s not about individual point totals right now, and give Bryant credit for having more sense than the growing horde clamoring for him to shoot more.

Bryant had all the necessary supplies to go into a me-against-the-world mode if he chose. A local newspaper here cited an NBA source saying Steve Nash won the most valuable player award. A poll of league GMs reached the same conclusion. Other L.A. and national outlets reported Bryant would switch from No. 8 to No. 24 next season, which agitated Bryant because he didn’t want the news to get out yet.

But Bryant didn’t come out to dunk on every Sun or silence the fans in US Airways Center. His response was to thread a bounce pass to a cutting Luke Walton, to find an open Sasha Vujacic on the other side of the court or to snatch a defensive rebound.

“He stayed very well inside of what we were trying to do,” Jackson said.

Bryant out-Nashed Nash. Would anyone have predicted that Nash would have more points and Bryant more assists at halftime?

Part of that was the Laker strategy of not leaving the other players and trying to make Nash beat them single-handedly. He scored 29 points -- equal to Bryant -- but it didn’t work.

And Bryant got the satisfaction of an MVP-style dunk over Nash.

Also, the Lakers did a better job of playing without their superstar. Nash sat out for most of a 7 1/2 -minute scoreless stretch in the first half. But when Bryant went to the bench with his third foul and three minutes left in the second quarter, the Lakers actually increased their lead.

But this is Jackson’s stage, his time to dominate.

If there’s a coach you want on your bench with a 1-0 deficit, it’s Jackson. Teams that lose the opener of a seven-game series win only 21% of the time. But Jackson actually has a winning record (7-5) in series in which his team lost first.

Only 10 of the 186 teams that have fallen behind 2-0 recovered to win the series -- and Jackson coached two of them. In fact, he’s 2-2 in that situation, when the stats say he only had a 5% chance of winning.

“It’s just about momentum,” Jackson said. “About picking up momentum. Usually there’s one or two keys that go in a series and then it changes or flip-flops.”

Then again, this is his first time trying to come back without Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen or Shaquille O’Neal. So Jackson wasn’t so confident of the outcome.

“I just can’t predict that in this series,” Jackson said. “We just have an unpredictable team.”

Jackson’s way is working again. Bryant realizes that for all of the ill words between them, it’s been a productive partnership.

Nash will get the trophy, but will it feel hollow if the Suns aren’t with him when he collects.

Bryant and Jackson just got a road win in the playoffs. There’s a lot of value in that.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande, go to latimes.com/adandeblog.