Lakers, Kobe Have No Shot

Before the Lakers had lost to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday afternoon and all but raised another Pacific Division banner at Arco Arena themselves, Gary Payton had stood before Kobe Bryant and asked him if that was it, if that was what they would get from Bryant that day.

“Are you gonna get involved?” Payton demanded.

Curious Laker teammates leaned in and looked to Bryant, who rested on the bench, then back to Payton. Bryant said he was OK, that he had it handled. He explained about the defense, how the double-teams had come, but held his palms down, asking for patience.

“It’s on my radar,” he told Payton. “I got it.”

Bryant took one shot in the first half of the Lakers’ 102-85 loss here, and that was coaxed by an expiring shot clock.

It was nearly two minutes into the second half before Bryant took a shot within the offense, and more than eight minutes into the second half before he made one.

By then, left on their own, the Lakers were behind by 17 points, and Laker fans learned what Bryant would look like as a Clipper. That is, gone.

As a result, the Kings led wire to wire, in the second half never by fewer than 11 points.

Bryant’s man, Doug Christie, scored 21 points and Chris Webber had 25. The Kings stopped Shaquille O’Neal (10 points, five rebounds, five fouls in 31 minutes), held the Lakers to 38.1% shooting, forced 17 turnovers and waited for Bryant to do ... something.

The Lakers lost for the third time in four games and, with two to play, Tuesday against Golden State and Wednesday in Portland, fell to fourth place in the Western Conference. The Kings had lost six of nine, went to the radical strategy of double-teaming Bryant, and won their most critical regular-season game easily.

“A great game for us,” Sacramento Coach Rick Adelman said.

The harping about his 72 shots against San Antonio, Portland and Memphis had barely died when Bryant -- on national television, in a game that could decide second- and third-round home-court advantage in the conference playoffs -- began passing on shots he’d honored for years.

“I was just laying back, waiting for the flow of the game,” he said. “They doubled me every time I touched the ball. Every time I got into a scoring position, they doubled quickly. So I just moved the ball on, waiting for the game to open up.”

Assistant coach Elston Turner had suggested the Kings, in Adelman’s words, “limit Kobe as much as we could.” That, apparently, left one hoisted shot for Bryant in the first half.

The Kings stuck with the strategy in the second half, though it frayed considerably, allowing Bryant 12 shots. He finished three for 13 from the field for eight points, a season low in games in which he’d played more than a minute.

There were hunches, mostly generated by the media, some gained by the oddly-raised eyebrow from the bench during timeouts, that Bryant would let the Lakers stew in their own games, without him.

“Naw,” Bryant said. “You know what, you have to give credit where credit is due, and they did a good job of not giving me any looks.”

He said he wasn’t hurt. He said he wasn’t mad. In the midst of a very public, very trying criminal case, he smiled and made light of the basketball game he’d just played.

So teammates widened their eyes and shook their heads and tried not to look bemused.

“Y’all seen it like I seen it,” Payton said. “We just came in and didn’t play. That was it.”

Laker Coach Phil Jackson strode to the cameras and notebooks, made a short statement about how “extremely disappointed” he was, took no questions, and turned on his heel. Karl Malone walked straight to the bus.

O’Neal was called for two offensive fouls in the first quarter and played sluggishly thereafter, but that was overlooked because of Bryant’s bizarre game. Afterward, O’Neal seemed appreciative.

“We win as a team and we lose as a team,” O’Neal said. “I’m not going to let you all start some Shaq-Kobe controversy. He was getting double-, tripled-teamed, and was kicking it out.... We let them take us out of our game. And I’m still not impressed.”

The Kings took it as they might have, as a complete victory. They finish the season at Denver and at Golden State. They won three of four games against the Lakers, so a tie would make the division theirs.

“It shows you what we can be,” Adelman said.

Postgame, the Lakers didn’t even bother. Jackson turned them loose without a word about the game.

“It wasn’t nothing,” Bryon Russell said. “The Lord’s prayer, and we was out of there.”

A few minutes later, Bryant grinned, light-hearted in what Russell had called an “ugly” locker room.

“We’ll be OK,” Bryant said. “We’ll be fine.”

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West Race

Top eight teams qualify for postseason, and top seven have clinched spots. Denver currently holds tiebreaker over Utah. In postseason, No. 1 team would play No. 8, No. 2 would play No. 7, etc.:

*--* No. Team W L GB 1. Minnesota 56 24 2. Sacramento 55 25 1 3. San Antonio 55 25 1 4. LAKERS 54 26 2 5. Memphis 50 30 6 6. Dallas 50 30 6 7. Houston 44 36 12 8. Denver 42 38 14 9. Utah 42 38 14 10. Portland 41 39 15

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