They Need Kobe to Give Them a Shot

Kobe Bryant made the shot last year that all but finished the San Antonio Spurs, the three-pointer near the end of Game 2 that appeared to convince them their summer was near.

In this postseason, however, Bryant has had to do without his jump shot, one of the reasons the Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers have been able to collapse so effectively on Shaquille O’Neal. In five playoff games, Bryant has made 39.6% of his field-goal attempts and 30% of his three-pointers. He is better overall against the Spurs, shooting 46.5%, but has missed each of his five three-point tries.

No problem, Bryant has said. He’s not a jump shooter. But, he said, his jumper is coming.

“Yeah, he gave me a holler today from down the street,” Bryant said, laughing. “I saw it today, around the corner. He said, ‘I’m here if you need me. I’ll page you tomorrow.’”

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The Laker bench, such as it is, was outscored by the Spurs’ reserves, 30-18, in Game 2.

Malik Rose scored 10 points for the Spurs in Game 1 and Antonio Daniels scored 14--in 20 minutes--in Game 2.

“That’s not supposed to happen at home,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “You’re not supposed to have fewer free throws at home, either. That’s one of the maxims of NBA basketball. When that happens, you know you have to analyze a little of what happened with your bench.”

In the series, Robert Horry has averaged 7.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in 29.5 minutes. Devean George has not shot well in the series, but Brian Shaw has made four of seven three-pointers. Jackson has barely looked at Lindsey Hunter, Slava Medvedenko or Mark Madsen, and Mitch Richmond hasn’t played a minute.

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Somewhere between fretting about the way his team has played for the last few weeks and accepting that there’s no real harm done yet, Jackson recalled the words of past playoffs.

“A good player I once coached said the playoffs don’t begin until you lose the first game,” Jackson said. “I think that’s a pretty honest evaluation. Until you lose a game. Until that time, you’re just out there playing. When the pressure gets on you, that’s what it’s all about, the pressure of playing in the playoffs.”

The player?

“Michael Jordan.”

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Derek Fisher, on leaving the thoughts of a sweep behind: “It’s more of heavyweight fight this time that maybe is going to go the distance.”

Fisher then called the three-peat “the hardest thing to do in professional sports.”

“We accepted that challenge when this thing started,” he said. “Losing [Tuesday] doesn’t change that. If it takes 26 games to do it, that’s how many games we’re going to be physically ready to play.”

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The Lakers have won nine consecutive playoff games on the road, an NBA record that includes two in San Antonio last year.... Along with his stitched forefinger and arthritic toe, O’Neal apparently suffered a very slight sprain of his left ankle. Team officials do not expect it to be a hindrance tonight.