Bryant Hits Top of Jackson’s Meter

Phil Jackson saw more than his share of spectacular offensive displays when he coached Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls.

But Jackson said Tuesday that Kobe Bryant’s 56-point performance against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night--accomplished in three quarters--might be the best he has witnessed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody get 56 points in three quarters, whether it’s Michael or anybody,” Jackson said. “So that has to rank right up there at the top.”

Teammates were also impressed, especially because Bryant turned it up in the first game after a trip that ended with consecutive losses at Minnesota and Chicago. Bryant missed all six of his field-goal attempts in overtime and also missed a free throw with 7.5 seconds left in the extra period in the 106-104 loss to the Bulls.

“I’ve seen some guys get hot, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone do it seemingly as easy as he seemed to do it last night,” veteran guard Brian Shaw said. “But we see that in practice every day. If he has a bad game, he’s the first one in here working on his stuff trying to get it right.”

Bryant’s previous high was 51 points in a 125-122 overtime loss against the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 6, 2000. He said a personal showcase was not in his plans when he arrived at Staples Center on Monday.

“I came into the game with the mind-set of getting everybody else involved,” Bryant said. “It was just one of those nights.... one of those freak situations.”

Bryant said the last time he felt that good on the court was, “probably in high school, the state playoffs or something.” As Bryant’s point total kept increasing Monday, teammates encouraged him to keep shooting.

“They were saying, ‘Give him the ball. He’s on fire. Don’t touch his hand,’” Bryant said. “They wanted to make some jokes and clown around, but they didn’t want to disrupt my rhythm.” At one point, Jackson jokingly urged the Lakers to spread the wealth.

“I just told them, ‘Stop passing him the ball. Somebody else take a few shots. You’re wearing this kid out,’” Jackson said.

Bryant made 21 of 34 field-goal attempts--including three of six three-pointers--and 11 of 12 free throws in 34 minutes. Jackson said he would have left Bryant in to chase the Laker record of 71 points set by Elgin Baylor if the game had been close or if it was the last game of the season.

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Laker center Shaquille O’Neal remains mum about his three-game suspension without pay for throwing a punch at Brad Miller of the Chicago Bulls, but he had a message nonetheless for media representatives after practice Tuesday.

Taped to O’Neal’s practice jersey was a white piece of paper with black letters that read: “IN HINDU CULTURE, THE ELEPHANT IS TALL, REGAL, MAJESTIC, STRONG, POWERFUL AND ENIGMATIC.

“A HINDU PROVERB STATES THAT WHEN AN ELEPHANT IS DOWN EVEN A FROG WILL KICK HIM.

“ISN’T THAT RIGHT, PLASCHKE?”

The message apparently was composed in response to a column written by Bill Plaschke of The Times that said O’Neal should be held accountable for his actions. Jackson said he did not know where O’Neal found inspiration for his message.

“He came out with that and said, ‘What do you think about this?’ I said, ‘That’s all right. It’s pretty clever,’” Jackson said. “I think the big elephant is OK. He’s not down. No frog is going to kick him.”

Jackson said the missed games could actually do O’Neal, and the Lakers, some good.

“He’s physically being able to restrengthen some of the things that we think are great to do in the middle of the season,” Jackson said. “More than likely, he won’t have to miss the All-Star game now because of this period of time he’s got off. And he can do some things that hopefully can relieve some of that discomfort in his toe and maybe come back a little bit stronger for a little bit longer time. Maybe we’ll solve this problem after all.”

TONIGHT

vs. Miami, 7:30

Fox Sports Net

Site--Staples Center.

Radio--KLAC (570).

Records--Lakers 27-8, Heat 9-26.

Record vs. Heat (2000-2001)--1-1.

Update--The struggling Heat is coming off an 85-79 victory at Golden State. Former Laker Eddie Jones scored 28 points in the win. Miami defeated the Lakers, 103-92, last season at Staples Center.

Tickets--(800) 462-2849.

Gary Klein