Bryant Rules Against Zone

This is what Shaquille O’Neal was talking about, what he saw coming, for Kobe Bryant was David Stern’s MVP, and Jerry Colangelo’s MVP, long before he was O’Neal’s.

This was Bryant out on top of a zone defense, ever fearless, choosing between a jumper and a first step, O’Neal bogged down in bodies on the inside.

Bryant scored 33 points, 23 in a frenetic second half, and the Lakers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 104-85, Tuesday night at Staples Center, where a late November showdown blew up on the Bucks in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers are 13-1, their best start in franchise history, finally by running through the Bucks, who arrived with one loss and departed with 4:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, when Buck Coach George Karl removed all of his starters in the face of a 14-point deficit.

Laker Coach Phil Jackson responded in kind 42 seconds later, summoning O’Neal, who had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Bryant to his bench. They had outscored the Bucks, 30-14, in the fourth quarter, and 46-20 over the final 18 minutes.

“They were doubling and tripling me, and that’s fine,” said O’Neal, who played much of the second half with four fouls. “We’re going to use that. Teams want to play that type of defense, we’re going to get it into the heart of that defense and kick it out.

“We didn’t shoot the ball all that well today, and we were able to win by 20. That should tell you something. The only way to beat us is to beat us. Don’t whine, don’t cry, don’t get help. You want to beat us, you’re going to have to beat us.”

While it wasn’t O’Neal’s kind of game--the Lakers attempted 31 threes, tying a club record, and made only 10--he predicted these games would have to be played, particularly against the O’Neal-reliant Lakers.

Karl came with a zone defense, more and harder than the Lakers had seen in the four weeks it’s been legal, since Colangelo’s ad hoc committee loosened the defensive rules. The strategy severely watered down the Ray Allen-Bryant matchup. Bryant defended Allen on nearly every possession, but Bryant had to wander into Allen’s wing area to reciprocate. And, while Allen shot six for 14 and finished with 13 points, Bryant found an offensive rhythm in the second half.

O’Neal has gifted the season to Bryant, who is better equipped than O’Neal to dart in and over zones. The Bucks’ was a two-three, or a one-two-two, depending on the perspective, and Bryant’s second half exposed it as ineffective against screens-and-rolls, and open jumpers, and ball movement.

“It was pretty easy for us to read the defense,” Bryant said, “once we got accustomed to the style they were playing. At first, it was a little frustrating to read the defense, but then we got used to it and made some adjustments. We didn’t make a lot of threes, but we made some big ones.”

The Lakers missed 12 of 15 threes in the first half, and made seven of 16 in the second. The Lakers had 57 rebounds, to the Bucks’ 36, and 24 offensive rebounds to the Bucks’ eight.

Sam Cassell scored 23 points, but only four in the fourth quarter, and the Bucks made only one three-pointer after halftime.

“Live by the jump shot, die by the jump shot,” former Buck Lindsey Hunter said. “That’s how they play.”

Living well on it in the first half, the Bucks held an 11-point lead in the first quarter and a 15-point lead in the second, and then they began to miss, and the Lakers began to find ways to keep up. While Derek Fisher missed nine of 11 shots, all from the arc, Samaki Walker had 11 rebounds. Though Hunter was two for eight from the field, Devean George took nine rebounds, a handful straight out of Bucks’ hands. And, the Lakers blocked 12 shots. “We told [O’Neal] at halftime, the way they were collapsing, he had to be a decoy,” Jackson said.

So the Lakers went to Bryant, who appeared out of sync in the first half in his anticipated matchup with Allen. In the second, he made seven of 14 field goals, many going to the basket. And then it was over, Karl dragging starters out of the game, the Lakers grinning in spite of themselves, one more victory behind them, ultimately easier than they might have thought.

Dating to last season, including the postseason, they have won 36 of 38 games. They see no reason to stop.

“The only way to beat this team is to go out and outplay us,” O’Neal said. “And not many teams are going to flat out beat us.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LAKERS’ BEST STARTS

The best season starts over 14 games in Laker history:

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Season W-L Pct. Final Rec. 2001-02 13-1 .929 1961-62 12-2 .857 54-26 1985-86 12-2 .857 62-20 1986-87 12-2 .857 65-17 1997-98 12-2 .857 61-21

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NBA’S TOP RECORDS

The top six records in the NBA through Tuesday’s games:

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Team W L Pct. Lakers 13 1 .929 Milwaukee 9 2 .818 Minnesota 10 3 .769 San Antonio 9 3 .750 Sacramento 11 4 .733 Detroit 9 4 .692

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