Bowen Doing a Numbers Job on Lakers

You could spend the rest of May watching NBA playoff basketball on every possible network -- including ESPN Classic -- and not see an individual play as balanced a game as San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen did Wednesday night.

Not only did he hold the game’s most dynamic offensive player in check, he put on a shooting display worthy of a place in both the Spurs’ and Lakers’ record books.

Bowen made seven of eight three-point shots, setting a Spurs’ playoff record for three-pointers made in a game, as well as a Laker playoff opponent record for most three-pointers in a game as the Spurs rolled to a 114-95 victory in Game 2.

At the end of the third quarter, when Bowen came out to a richly deserved ovation, he had 27 points to Kobe Bryant’s 24. He had more blocks of Kobe’s shots (three), than Bryant made three-pointers on him (one). For bookkeeping purposes, Bryant evened the tally with a three-point shot during garbage time in the fourth. But you couldn’t call them even during the first 36 minutes of the game.

This round, this game and control of this series went to Bowen and the Spurs.

Bryant couldn’t do anything but look at the Laker bench, look at the officials, and mutter. The Lakers’ lone hope in the Lone Star State was that Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal could outdo the combined efforts of the Spurs. That’s impossible when Bryant can’t even win his individual matchup.

Yes, the Lakers ask Bryant to do more. He has to create scoring chances for the stagnant Laker offense. On defense, he’s dropping down to help on Tim Duncan and playing catch-up when Tony Parker zips into the lane.

Meanwhile, Bowen has two assignments: guard Bryant and hit the open shot.

Simple, huh?

Well, I don’t think you’d get a long list of volunteers for that first part. Who wants to run the risk of spending the next 24-hour highlight cycle repeatedly getting crossed over and dunked on?

Bowen’s up to the task. And it’s almost as if the game of basketball rewarded his efforts by sending his shots through the net.

“I was happy with the offense of course,” Bowen said. “That seems to catch a lot of air in this league, when you do something offensively. But my main focus was defense tonight. Being that Kobe is who he is, I knew he was going to come out aggressive tonight and try to take over the game early.”

That’s exactly what happened. Bryant took seven shots in the first quarter and made four. But one of Bowen’s best attributes is his resiliency. He looks the same whether he’s holding Bryant scoreless or he’s giving up a 15-point quarter.

“When he hits a shot on you, you can’t get down,” Bowen said. “He hit a lot of shots in the first quarter. Sometimes you can say, ‘Ahh, man. He hit his shots.’ But you’ve got to understand it’s 48 minutes. If you got a hand up and did what you could, that’s all you can ask for.”

Bryant used to tear up the Spurs in playoff games at the Alamodome, but we can rule out the SBC Center as the cause of Bryant’s shooting woes. Bryant shot nine for 29 at Staples Center in the season opener. And he got 44 points the hard way in L.A. on Valentine’s Day, shooting 19 for 41 while taking only six free throws.

The common denominator? Bowen. He stays in front of Bryant and seems to have just as good an idea as Kobe as to where Bryant is going. He rarely gets beaten to a spot.

The competitor in Bryant would never admit that someone is getting the best of him. But consider it praise when he said: “Every shot was contested.”

The same couldn’t be said for Bowen’s three-pointers. Thanks to Bryant sagging on Duncan or the guards’ penetration, most of Bowen’s shots were wide-open looks. His lone missed three-pointer came when Bryant came running out at him and almost got a piece of the ball.

Mostly, it was like target practice for Bowen.

“He made shot after shot after shot,” Spur center David Robinson said. “Wow! That’s probably the best I’ve ever seen him play.”

The numbers alone suggested something good for the Spurs. Bowen was the league’s top three-point shooter this season, and the Lakers played the league’s worst three-point defense.

But seven-for-eight?

It was like those inexplicable superstars in Madden Football, the running back who can’t be tackled or a linebacker who makes every play. Bowen (a 44% three-point shooter), isn’t supposed to be this good. The Lakers (who allowed opponents to shoot 38%), weren’t supposed to be this bad.

But Bowen, who was raised in Fresno and went to college at Cal State Fullerton, is exceeding even the Spurs’ best hopes. They knew he could be effective against Bryant. But outscoring him, too?

“It’s the playoffs now,” Bowen said. “That’s enough to get me going. We’re playing the world champions and a team that I used to love growing up as a kid. That’s motivation enough.”

He might have loved the Lakers, but it was from afar.

“We couldn’t afford tickets, man,” he said.

So he never saw them in the playoffs?

“PLAY-offs?,” he said, doing his best Jim Mora imitation. Then he drew a square in the air. “It was all about the TV screen, baby.”

Now is his chance to love it live, as the promotions say. And he’s much too vivid for the Lakers’ championship hopes.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.