Bryant Gets Plenty of Help
Saturday, June 13, 2009
ORLANDO, June 12 -- These NBA Finals have been all about Kobe Bryant, his facial expressions, his flaring nostrils and his scowl, which seems to be the permanent work of a plastic surgeon. His smiles are charted like an extra stat on the box score. Was that a laugh? Wait, that might have been a grin.
Bryant's glare of determination serves a purpose while coming across as somewhat scripted, but it also overlooks how the Los Angeles Lakers have a 3-1 lead over the Orlando Magic, how they are on the cusp of a 15th championship, and how Bryant is one win from his fourth title because his teammates are bailing out him, not the other way around.
The Lakers were able to come back from a 12-point halftime deficit to pull out a 99-91 overtime victory because forward Trevor Ariza, the player Orlando dumped on the Lakers last season because he supposedly couldn't shoot, scored 14 of his 16 points and made two three-pointers in the third quarter. They forced overtime and went ahead for good because Derek Fisher, who has been criticized for being too old and too inaccurate on his jumper this postseason, forgot that he missed his first five three-point attempts and made his last two. And they defeated the Magic because Spanish forward Pau Gasol, who has brushed off his soft label like lint on his sport coat this series, had two emphatic dunks and some choice words -- in his second language -- for Orlando's Mickael Pietrus in overtime.
"None of us can continue at times to just expect that Kobe is going to save us," Fisher said. "We all have to be willing to take blame, responsibility and accountability, when things go well, as well as [when things go] bad."
Lost in the spectacle of Fisher's two big three-pointers and Dwight Howard's huge missed free throws, was that since erupting for 40 points in the Lakers' Game 1 blowout, Bryant had his third straight forgettable fourth quarter in this series. Bryant missed six of eight attempts and had a turnover in the fourth period. His greatest contribution in the final seconds of regulation was attracting the attention of the Magic defense, so that Fisher could have ample space to dribble up the floor and fire the game-tying three to force overtime.
Bryant made two jumpers to start overtime, but also hit Fisher -- after he accidentally clocked Magic point guard Jameer Nelson in the face with an elbow -- at the top of the key for the three-pointer that put the Lakers up for good.
"He just has supreme confidence," Bryant said of Fisher. "And I think those shots at the end of the game are actually easier for him than the other ones."
Bryant may be gunning for his first title without Shaquille O'Neal, but he has never won one without Fisher, either. Fisher won three championships before signing as a free agent with Golden State in 2004. He spent two years with the Warriors and one in Utah before returning to the Lakers to find the best treatment after a rare form of eye cancer was diagnosed in his young daughter. Since returning to the Lakers in the summer of 2007, he has given Bryant a sounding board, a like-minded competitor and a complementary locker room leader.
"They've definitely been together for a long time," Ariza said. "They came in together, so they definitely have a good bond, and they show us how to do things."
Earlier this season, Bryant joked that his leadership was more similar to the confrontational style of Malcolm X, while Fisher took the more measured approach of President Obama. Immediately after the Game 4 win, Fisher didn't allow his teammates to forget that they still need one more win. He and Lakers Coach Phil Jackson reminded them of 2000 NBA Finals, when the Lakers held off Indiana in overtime in Game 4, then went out and lost the next game by 33 points before closing out the series in six games.
"We still know we have work to do," Fisher said.
Ariza didn't have significant postseason experience entering the postseason, but the fifth-year player has always had a sense for the moment, whether it was getting two steals in two wins in the final seconds against Denver in the conference finals, or on Thursday, when he got the Lakers off and running early in the third quarter with a steal and a dunk. "When I'm aggressive early, it kind of gets our team going," Ariza said.
And for the second time this series, Gasol was the player who slammed the door shut on Orlando. He scored seven points in the final six minutes of the game, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 49 minutes. He also absorbed a closed-fisted shove in the back from Pietrus, then dunked and barked in Pietrus's face afterward.
"I said a couple things that I can't repeat on camera," Gasol said. "I said it in English so I made sure he understood it; if I had known it in French, I would have said it in French."
Whether it's in Spanish, French or English, the only phrase that Bryant and the Lakers are focused on now is winning that ring. Bryant is averaging a series-best 33 points. But he is also shooting just 42.9 percent. If he continues to shoot poorly, and his team continues to win, Bryant will take it -- by any means necessary. "It's playing with that passion all year," Bryant said. "Having that goal in mind, and just trying to stay the course. That's what makes champions."
