If Bryant Plays This Way, Lakers Can Pass Any Test

Kobe Bryant has changed so much that now the Laker offense flows much better when he’s in the game. He’s so giving that Phil Jackson actually accused him of “playing too unselfish at some points.”

Does it all sound like some kind of illusion? What if it was said that Bryant’s game-high 28 points were not the reason the Lakers won Game 1 of their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday?

If anything, his scoring total does more to explain why Shaquille O’Neal was sitting next to David Duchovny at the end of the game than why the Lakers won it. Bryant scored 12 of his points in the final 7 1/2 minutes, when the Lakers already had the outcome in hand, O’Neal came out early and the only suspense remaining was whether they would reach the magic 110-point chalupa threshold.

It was Bryant’s passing and court sense, along with O’Neal’s free throws and the offense of Derek Fisher and Horace Grant--you know, the things the Lakers have counted on all season--that pushed them to their 106-93 victory.

Just a few weeks ago, opposing players were saying the Lakers played more cohesively with Bryant out, and said it wasn’t a coincidence that the offense looked so good while he was sidelined because of ankle and foot injuries. They can’t say that anymore.

Bryant played a big role in the Lakers’ masterful first quarter even though he only had one point. By halftime he hadn’t made a field goal, and yet the Lakers still had the lead.

Bryant made sure O’Neal got his touches inside, he moved the ball from one side of the court to the other, he created open looks for Fisher and Rick Fox. Fox missed most of his shots, but Fisher made seven of 10 on his way to an efficient 21 points.

Bryant had seven assists--and no turnovers. If there were any fears that the Bad Kobe would replace the Good Kobe that has been on display since Bryant returned from his injuries, they were allayed by this performance.

“That’s the type of Kobe that becomes great for us, because it’s going to create opportunities for the rest of us and then he gets better looks,” Fox said.

Bryant controlled this game in much the same way Utah’s John Stockton defeated Dallas on Saturday despite making only three field goals. Stockton had 18 assists, and got his teammates going by getting them the ball in the right place at the right time. He also blocked two shots and had a steal.

Bryant found ways to contribute even though his shots weren’t falling (neither were O’Neal’s, for that matter). At one point The Combo was a combined six for 27. Which is why this victory is a good indication that the Lakers will win this series.

Portland did most of the things it has become accustomed to. The Trail Blazers had five players reach double-figure scoring. Rasheed Wallace was unstoppable for most of the game, and had 24 points (five above his season average). He went scoreless in the fourth quarter and the Trail Blazers went south, but that’s starting to become a Portland thing too, isn’t it?

The most unusual thing for Portland was that Steve Smith had only 10 points on three-for-eight shooting. And much of that was because of Bryant’s defense.

Meanwhile, don’t expect Bryant and O’Neal to shoot 16 for 41 again. So even if Grant doesn’t outscore Wallace, 14-12, in the first half in Game 2, even if Fisher cools off, O’Neal and Bryant probably will recover to shoot a higher percentage.

O’Neal kept the Lakers in the game by making 10 of 15 free throws. Bryant did it by making his teammates better, despite shooting 0 for 7 in the first half. “Normally he’s a guy that comes out and gets off to great starts,” Fox said. “But he was patient and he let the game come to him and created opportunities for other guys.”

Bryant left the game with a rib injury 39 seconds into the second quarter and the Lakers came to a standstill. O’Neal couldn’t make his shots and the team’s only points during a stretch that lasted more than seven minutes came from a three-point basket by Robert Horry.

“I got nailed early, and it kept bothering me, so I came out,” Bryant said. “I had to get it strapped up and get back to war.”

He came back to the bench with 7:59 on the clock and reentered the game 10 seconds later.

The Lakers remained stuck on 54 points for another 3 1/2 minutes, but it was Bryant who got them untracked. He passed to Grant for a layup. Then Bryant stole a pass from Detlef Schrempf, who grabbed him at halfcourt. It was the last thing a guy with a rib injury needed, and Kobe looked agitated. But he made both free throws, and the Lakers were within a point after weathering an 18-3 Trail Blazer run.

In the third quarter, Bryant got going, finally making his first shot on a jumper with 10:04 remaining.

He had a layup and an acrobatic shot off an errant lob by Fisher. But it was his passing that proved to be more important at the start of the fourth quarter.

Bryant found Fox and Brian Shaw for a pair of three-pointers that put the Lakers ahead by 10 and all but put Portland to sleep.

Bryant remains an important scoring threat, enough to force Scottie Pippen to guard him instead of hanging around O’Neal.

But when Bryant is passing the way he has lately, he’s even more dangerous.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com.