Lakers Win Ugly

Kobe Bryant, loping down the middle of the court, on his way to 15 breathtaking fourth-quarter points, flung himself into the air, lifted the basketball, spun 360 degrees ...

“I thought it was said in my commercial,” he said.

... and was fouled. Then he missed both free throws.

“I fly,” he said, smiling.

Ah, well, the joys of youth and the 4-0 start.

The dunk didn’t work out, but the Lakers overcame a 19-point, first-half deficit and defeated the still-game-after-all-these-years Utah Jazz, 100-96, before 18,997 Sunday night at Staples Center.

Coach Phil Jackson arched his eyebrows at Bryant’s attempt, and afterward said, “We kind of criticized Kobe, gently, about watching his own commercials, having visions of grandeur.”

Most guys have delusions. Not Bryant. He has visions.

Bryant, with Shaquille O’Neal (30 points, eight rebounds) and Lindsey Hunter (16 points), lifted the Lakers out of a first-half laze that threatened the perfect beginning of their three-peat wishes, imperfect as it has been. In four games, Bryant has gone for 29, 39, 24 and, Sunday against the Jazz, 38 points, and has averaged seven assists, more than any Laker.

He is playing the best basketball of his career, as though the playoffs simply rolled into the regular season, and so a momentary flashback to his reckless days barely registered.

“He was very decisive,” Jackson said of Bryant in the second half, when he scored 21 points. “He knew what he wanted to do.”

The Lakers outscored the Jazz, 9-5, in the final three minutes, when Hunter made a critical jumper and John Stockton, playing with seven stitches in his shooting index finger, missed a long three-pointer with 10 seconds left and Hunter crowding him.

The Lakers did not lead until the fourth quarter, until more than 41 minutes had passed, until Bryant spun and made an 18-footer, defender Bryon Russell having collapsed because of the gravity-sucking move.

They caught the Jazz--after deficits of 12 in the first quarter, 19 in the second quarter, and 13 in the third--at 83-82.

From there, there were six lead changes and one tie. The Lakers took the lead for the last time on Devean George’s short jumper with 2:54 remaining, and just more than a minute later had Bryant roll in a layup for a 97-92 lead. John Amaechi and Donyell Marshall each missed two free throws in the final 2:17, which left Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan fuming. But, the Lakers were gaining anyway.

“We tightened up a little bit defensively,” Bryant said. “And, you know, our offense wasn’t really in sync. My teammates gave me some open space, some room, to let me operate.”

From late in the third quarter to late in the fourth, Bryant made nine of 10 field-goal attempts. In that time, Samaki Walker made his only field goal, an 18-footer that brought the Lakers to within 76-70, and Hunter made a three-pointer to bring them to within 82-81.

Hunter, in double figures for each of his four games as a Laker, also hounded Stockton into missing eight of 12 shots. O’Neal made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts.

“We’re winning,” Bryant said, “but we can be so much better.”

So, it can happen. The Lakers can look bad on their own floor. But, they can get away with it, even against the veteran Jazz.

Stockton played with those seven stitches in his forefinger, a problem that allowed him only two shots Saturday night in Seattle. Malone played in foul trouble, picking up his fourth early in the third quarter, his fifth early in the fourth, and his sixth with 3:29 left in the game. He scored 26 points, eight in the fourth quarter.

At halftime, the Yankees and the Diamondbacks were in the bottom of the eighth inning on the overhead scoreboard, and the arena was quiet but for the sound of Mariano Rivera’s fastballs pounding Jorge Posada’s mitt, and the cheers when something didn’t go right for the Yankees.

At that point, Laker fans appreciated the distraction. When the Diamondback victory was announced, with Andrei Kirilenko at the free-throw line, the crowd stood and cheered, and O’Neal gazed up at the board.

For a half, the Jazz looked like the fresh team, having played the night before in Seattle. The Lakers looked stiff and slow, having taken Saturday off--no practice, no game, no basketball at all.

“They don’t have to practice,” Sloan said. “Any time you have a guy who can just overpower you, why would you practice?

“Kobe Bryant, he just dominated us. Same old story with those two guys.”

The Lakers played hardly any defense before halftime, and the Jazz missed only a few open shots, and as a result the Jazz led, 57-47. And, the Lakers had to go some to get to that deficit.

Malone’s layup with about five minutes left in the half gave the Jazz a 47-28 lead. O’Neal and Bryant combined for 11 points in the next five minutes, putting the Lakers within reach.