Bryant’s Ready, Pacers Are Too

The world waits for Kobe Bryant to return to the NBA finals, but Bryant is not waiting for any further signs, omens or medical opinions.

These are the only facts he needs:

* The Lakers lost Game 3 when he sat out to rest his sprained left ankle.

* The Indiana Pacers have some momentum, and could tie the series, two games apiece, and toss the NBA championship back into a what-now scenario with a victory here tonight.

Could anything possibly keep Bryant, tender ankle or not, from suiting up and playing in Game 4?

“Any snipers in the room?” Bryant said in the interview room Tuesday. “I don’t think so.”

So this is where the NBA finals pivot--either the Lakers steal the middle game of a three-game Conseco Fieldhouse set to go up, three games to one, after holding Bryant out in the last game; or Indiana makes things very, very interesting, by tying the series and shifting the pressure back onto Laker shoulders.

“I think,” Bryant said, “Game 4 is going to be a fun game.”

The wild cards:

* Bryant’s wobbly ankle, which at best will limit his explosiveness (his left leg is his push-off leg) and at worst will prohibit him from chasing on defense and shooting his trademark fall-away jumper on offense.

He participated in about 80% of the team’s practice on Tuesday, his first action since spraining his ankle in Game 2, and looked as if he was favoring the ankle slightly, then was held out of the last 15 minutes by Coach Phil Jackson as a precaution.

But even Jackson did not deny that the Lakers have been looking toward a Game 4 return since Bryant suffered the injury five days ago.

“I think it will be a consensus,” Jackson said of the decision-making process. “I think that everybody will agree that he’ll be ready to play, but we can’t make that statement now, obviously, because it’s still 30 hours before game time and we still haven’t practiced to see what effect he’ll have.

“But we pointed toward this game in hopes that he’ll be able to play, and he’s anxious to play, I’ll tell you that now.”

Bryant, obviously, still is frustrated he had to sit out Game 3 and is not even thinking of a possible aggravation of the ankle.

“I have all summer to rest it,” Bryant said. “This is the end of the season right here, so I’m not really concerned about re-injuring my ankle.

“Phil’s philosophy was that we have a 2-0 cushion, you might as well rest it and try to get it as close to 100% as you possibly can for Wednesday.”

* Glen Rice’s chance to shake off two days of controversy about his relationship with Jackson and his role in the Lakers’ triangle offense, and deliver a meet-the-moment performance.

If Bryant is limited offensively, as the Lakers suspect he will be, much attention again will be focused on Rice, who, with Bryant out, made only three baskets in Game 3.

“I’ve just got to watch out now,” said Pacer forward Jalen Rose, who has gotten the better of Rice in this series so far.

“I think Phil has [upset] Glen. Now I’ve got to be ready this first half, especially, watch for him try to come out and be aggressive and try to have his ‘A’ game.

“Phil understands how to get guys motivated and ready to play. He’s a championship coach. He understands that he needs Glen in order for them to be a championship team this season.”

* The Pacers’ building confidence, and their accelerated interest in hard double-teams of Shaquille O’Neal, who scored 33 points in Game 3 but had free-throw shooting trouble and was pushed around more than he was while scoring 83 points in Games 1 and 2.

Indiana has defeated the Lakers both times they have played at Conseco.

“We need to be just as hungry,” guard Reggie Miller said. “Just because we won one game, we cannot be happy and we can’t settle.

“We have to find some way to tie this series up and put some pressure on them. . . . They still feel pretty good about themselves--they played fairly good in Game 3 without Kobe.

“With Kobe coming back, they’ll be somewhat at full strength. They’re looking just to get one ballgame here, so they have to feel very good about themselves.”

Said Rose: “I feel like the series doesn’t settle in until we tie it up. A lot of people think Game 3 was a fluke, for whatever reason--they played without Kobe in Game 3. . . . People talked about us getting lucky without him being out there.

“They have a lot of people that are willing to make excuses for them. I think when we tie up the series, 2-2, then people will start respecting us a little bit more.”