Bryant Plans to Put His Best Foot Forward

The right foot that has all Los Angeles talking was wrapped up in thick sweat socks and inside an unlaced sneaker as Kobe Bryant entered the Lakers’ practice session Saturday at Staples Center.

Bryant walked slowly but not tentatively to a seat, and did his best to reassure those around him he will be fine for Game 7.

“It feels a little tender right now,” Bryant said. “I won’t practice. Today I’ll just try and get the swelling out and get it as close to 100% for tomorrow.”

Bryant sprained the foot Tuesday in Game 5. He did not practice for two days or participate in Friday’s shoot-around. But he played all 48 minutes of Game 6, scoring a game-high 33 points in the Laker loss.

Could he go 48 minutes today? Bryant smiled. “I don’t have a choice.”

He said the foot bothers him more when he must move quickly from side to side, rather than when he jumps. But Bryant was confident of being effective today. “We have some good trainers here, they’ll get me ready.”

Since his confidence was fine, Bryant was asked about the rest of the team, now that Portland has erased the favored Lakers’ 3-1 playoff lead and has won the last two games played at Staples.

Bryant said they should not be afraid of Game 7. At least he isn’t.

“If you look in the past, all the great teams, everybody has been pushed to their limit before,” Bryant said. “Everybody’s been pushed to a seventh game. As a kid watching these types of games, I used to love them. And to be in this type of situation, even though we’d rather be preparing for Indiana, is kind of cool.

“Are we angry, anxious, a little worried? All the above. But we’re also relaxed; we’re calm. We know we fought all season long for home-court advantage.”

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For the first time since the February completion of the team’s new El Segundo practice facility, Coach Phil Jackson brought his players to Staples Center for practice to try to snap them out of a two-game home shooting slump.

“I think we’ve really shot poorly here,” Jackson said. “That’s why we’re here.

“We have a great practice facility, and we have a much easier accommodation for therapy in our own building. But we’ve only shot once well here in three home games. We have to come down here and shoot. . . .

“The reason we’re practicing here today is to get a balance on this court and feel good about it.”

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Laker forward Robert Horry, shooting only 29.5% in the series and only 25% from Game 2 on (and one for 15 from three-point distance during that span), said he knows he has to continue shooting his jumper to force Portland at least somewhat out of its packed defense.

“I don’t care, I could come out and miss a hundred in a row, I’m still going to shoot it,” Horry said. “That’s the kind of confidence I’ve got in myself. I might get frustrated, but I’m still going to shoot it.”

Is he out of rhythm or are the shots just not falling?

“It just depends on what day it is,” Horry said with a smile. “If it’s Monday, I shoot well, if it’s Tuesday, I don’t. . . .”

What about Sundays?

“Sundays,” Horry said, “I usually shoot pretty good.”