Kobe Bryant gives it his best (and worst) shot; Lakers still lose

Kobe Bryant tried to shoot the Lakers to victory. Again and again.

Lakers fans felt every one of his attempts at Staples Center, groaning when he missed and celebrating when he scored.

Bryant’s 39 points weren’t enough, which made one wonder, when will the Lakers finally win a game?

They lost to the Phoenix Suns, 112-106, fell to 0-5 and extended their worst start since 1957.

Bryant took 37 shots Tuesday and made only 14, a subpar 37.8%. It was his highest shot count since he lofted 41 against Golden State in December 2012.

That one was more surprising, since he was sharing the court with Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard and a healthy Steve Nash.

This one? Bryant tried to do it himself. Many people probably wouldn’t have blamed him.

He gave the fans part of what they wanted, delighting them with successful drives to the basket. And fadeaways. And three-pointers.

Bryant, 36, even leaped over the courtside seats in the third quarter to chase a loose ball. He landed a little stiffly and stayed hunched over at the waist for a handful of seconds that seemed like forever for Lakers followers. He stayed in the game.

The third quarter was tough on Bryant, though. He took 10 shots and missed eight of them.

And he missed 23 shots overall. The rest of the Lakers’ starters combined to miss 20. Bryant had one assist in 44 minutes.

“I was just being aggressive, playing with a lot of energy tonight,” a subdued Bryant said after the game. “It’s easy to look at it and say, ’37 shots,’ but you don’t see how hard I was working to get easy opportunities. When you play with a lot of energy and you’re winless, you’ll get a lot of opportunities.”

“I felt he battled all night long,” Lakers Coach Byron Scott said. “The thing with him, he plays every game like it’s his last game. That’s what you want.”

Bryant played the entire second half and blew through the unofficial 40-minute ceiling Scott had in place for him. The Lakers were playing their fifth game in seven nights but wouldn’t play again until Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets.

Maybe then they’ll get a victory. Their worst start ever is 0-7, also in 1957.

“I think we all need to win,” Bryant said. “It’s a learning process and it’s very, very frustrating. It’s upsetting but we just have to stay determined. I have to stay determined. Guys have to stay determined and try to turn it around.”

The Lakers weren’t awful Tuesday night, improving from a 20-point loss to Phoenix last week. Jeremy Lin looked better after a shaky few games, finishing with 18 points, and Jordan Hill had 15 points and 15 rebounds.

But the Lakers have nothing like the Suns’ bench. Isaiah Thomas gave them 22 points and nine assists. Gerald Green added 26 points.

No matter what happens to the Lakers the rest of this season, there’s always Bryant, firing away at will, sometimes successfully.

“If you look at the next three games, he’s not going to be playing 44 minutes. I’ll taper back his minutes,” Scott said. “As far as him carrying the load, he’s going to do whatever he thinks he has to do to win the game.”

Follow Mike Bresnahan on Twitter @Mike_Bresnahan