Little Things Become a Big Win

Game 4 turned in a lot of little corners. The Lakers, and Kobe Bryant in particular, hounded Mike Bibby into three second-half points on five second-half shots.

The Lakers had 25 offensive rebounds, three short of the franchise playoff record, seven in the fourth quarter.

They held the Kings to 41.7% shooting in the second half, when the Kings missed all eight of their three-point tries.

While that might not qualify as suffocating, exactly, the Kings made 15 of 21 shots in the first quarter and shot 54.8% in the first half.

It also turned at the free-throw line. Overrun by the more aggressive Kings for most of the first three games, the Lakers took 27 free-throw attempts, while the Kings took 26.

And, in the final minute, it was the Lakers who made their free throws, and the Kings who missed the one that made them vulnerable.

Shaquille O’Neal was fouled and made two free throws that brought the Lakers to within 98-97.

On the next possession, Vlade Divac was fouled intentionally, and he hit the front of the rim with the first one, then made the second.

“Those were clutch baskets,” Bryant said of O’Neal’s free throws. “He always says he’ll hit them when the money’s on the line, and he did that.”

*

Bryant, who took four liters of intravenous fluids last Monday in Sacramento, needed another Sunday afternoon, after Game 4.

*

Robert Horry said he never considered stepping in to attempt a tying two-pointer.

“I never moved,” he said. “I said that I wanted that three so bad. I am the type of guy that’s going for a three. I am not going for a two to tie the game, because anything can happen in overtime. I am going for the win.”

*

Horry wasn’t the only Laker power forward to beat the buzzer. Samaki Walker made a running 34-footer at halftime that brought the Lakers from 17 to 14 points back. Those were Walker’s only points.

Said Horry: “A lot of guys, when the ball is coming, sit there and look at the clock, then it makes you rush your shot. I was like, ‘If I don’t get it off in time, we lose. If I do, it’s money.’”

*

Horry had 14 rebounds and is averaging 12.8 in the series. ... From their largest, latest deficit, the Lakers outscored the Kings, 74-49. Between the first quarter of Game 1 and early in the second quarter of Game 4, the Kings had outscored the Lakers by 50 points (326-276).