Kobe's Lakers 2-0 Good for the Kings
Sacramento Kings 112 @ Los Angeles Lakers 120
21-8 Los Angeles Lakers lead series against 19-10 Sacramento Kings 2-0
ABOVE: Kobe Bryant (8) hits the trey to tie it up
Los Angeles – Defending NBA Champions, the Sacramento Kings need to watch their next step as the series swings back to Arco Arena. Any false move could mean elimination but PF Chris Webber hasn't counted out his team just yet.
"We got our backs against the wall. But that doesn't mean nothing."
Kobe Bryant was sensational in the clutch again and everyone is wondering when he is going to fail in the most exciting and important moments of games. Magic Johnson was awestruck when Bryant hit two triples in the final minute of regulation to save his team once more.
Kobe scored 11 in the fourth quarter and 10 in overtime. He finished with 40 points on 13 for 24 shooting from the field and added 9 out of 10 free throws. He also grabbed 7 rebounds for the Lakers who are only one game from clinching a spot in the Western Conference Finals.
Bryant was flanked by Kwame Brown's 22 and 13 and Ron Artest's 23, 9, 6 and 3 blocks. Carlos Boozer showed up with his usual double double and Fredrik Ratchuk dished out a playoff career high 13 assists.
Boozer was delighted with the win, "My individual stats don't matter. It's the win that counts. I remeber when me, Jay (Williams) and Mike (Dunleavy Jr.) played at Duke and we beat teams. It was good, we didn't care about stats."
Mike Bibby led the Kings with 29 points, 9 assists and 4 steals. Peja Stojakovic had 28, 4, 5 and Brad Miller added 18 and 14. The Kings tried hard to keep up with the Lakers for the full game and they were unlucky not to win it.
With 9:03 in the fourth quarter and a 3 point lead, Chris Webber fouled out. The big man wasn't playing very well as he ended the match with only 10 points and 4 rebounds in 29 foul plagued minutes. Sacramento kept up the intensity though and took advantage of the missing Ron Artest and Carlos Boozer, both sitting out large chunks of the final period due to foul trouble.
With 1:42 left, the Lakers trailed 98-101. Both teams had failed to score since the 3:12 mark and Byrant broke the deadlock with 1:14 on the clock with a three pointer. Los Angeles forced the Kings into a rushed jumper on the other end but failed to convert on their own side. Kobe then fouled Doug Christie whilst the Kings' SG was shooting a jumper.
Magic Johnson had gotten off the bench to yell at his star player. "You don't give away easy shots. He would have missed that jumper," Johnson complained. Christie sank all of his freebies to make the score 101-104 with only 36.9 left. Bryant then missed a three pointer on the other end and the Lakers sent Mike Bibby to the line. Luckily Bibby missed the three and the Lakers called timeout to have one last go to tie the game. And with 0.8 seconds lef ton the clock, Bryant converted.
ABOVE: Kobe Bryant (8) sends it to OT with 0.8 left
The Lakers' bench erupted and the crowd stood and clapped as Kobe clebrated with his teammates. "That was another one, another miracle. Amazing," Kwame said, "I don't know how Kobe does it." Bibby shared the same opinion but in a much more bitter tone, "I don't know how he makes them. He shouldn't be allowed to shoot. Something's going on around here."
The Lakers came out of the short break and made the most of their overtime. Bryant scored 6 straight points before the Kings fought back to lead by 4. Kobe once again produced his herioics by stealing the ball at mid court to dunk it and then scoring off a pass on the fast break. Ron Artest's three pointer with 1:17 left, then his next 2 free throws iced the game for LA.
"We're going to Sacaramento to sweep the series. You all watch us!" Bryant screamed at cameras.
STATS
LAKERS
Points: 120
Rebounds: 48
Assists: 29
Steals: 10
Blocks: 5
Fouls: 25
FG: 51%
3pt: 28%
FT: 81%
KINGS
Points: 112
Rebounds: 34
Assists: 23
Steals: 13
Blocks: 7
Fouls: 24
FG: 44%
3pt: 33%
FT: 82%
Last edited by
Fresh8 on Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.