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EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
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Closer Look Kobe's second-quarter explosion sets the table
Updated: Monday June 11, 2001 8:31 AM
By Marty Burns, Sports Illustrated PHILADELPHIA -- For Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, it was "just a matter of knocking them down." He was talking about his pivotal run of eight consecutive field goals in the second quarter of Sunday's Game 3. He could have been talking about the Sixers as well. For while Shaquille O'Neal provided the heavy lifting in L.A.'s victory -- and Robert Horry closed the deal -- it was Bryant's second-quarter explosion that set the table. Bryant scored 16 of his game-high 32 points during the run, part of which came with Shaq on the bench getting a rest, to help L.A. turn a two-point deficit into a 55-45 halftime lead. The Sixers spent the rest of the game trying to catch up, ultimately dying on Horry's clutch 3-point shot. "It was a big help," Lakers assistant coach Tex Winter said. "Kobe got a hot hand. Whenever Shaq goes out, he feels like he can take over. He got good looks, and he knocked them down."
Bryant hit eight of 11 shots during the quarter, with six of the eight field goals coming on jump shots. Before that, the 22-year-old superstar had been relatively quiet as he tried to get a feel for the game. "I was pretty much just kind of cruising a little bit, trying to conserve my energy," Bryant said. Sort of the way a shark cruises the water looking for lunch. Bryant's damage report reads as follows:
By the time it was done, the Lakers had built a 55-43 edge and the raucous First Union Center crowd had given up booing Bryant, a former suburban Philadelphia native. Sixers head coach Larry Brown credited Bryant's surge with helping put his team too far behind, and he said there was little they could do. "He made shots with a hand in his face," Sixers guard Allen Iverson agreed. "When guys are hitting jump shots like that, there's not much you can do." Bryant's run was similar to his memorable outburst in Game 4 of last year's NBA Finals, when he took over after Shaq fouled out. Like then, the Lakers spread the court for Bryant and allowed him to use his one-on-one skills to his advantage. "We were doing some things for him," Winter said. "We ran some side screen-and-roll for him, and it opens the floor up. Sometimes it comes out of regular offense, and sometimes it doesn't. It gives him room to operate." For Bryant, it was much more simple than Xs and Os. "My teammates set good picks for me, got me open, I got easy looks at the basket," he said. After that, it was just a matter of knocking them down.
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Shaq had 30 points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots and three
assists before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. He hit 11-of-20 shots from the floor and made a remarkable (for him, at least) 8-of-9 from the foul line. He also played strong help defense as the Lakers limited 
Kobe Bryant helped ignite a Lakers run in the second quarter that turned a 27-25 deficit into a 55-43 Lakers lead. He hit eight consecutive shots
during the stretch, most on a variety of silky jumpers. Bryant's run gave
the Lakers a cushion they would later need, and came during a crucial
period when Shaq was on the bench getting a breather. 
The Lakers reserve forward scored 12 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, including a clutch 3-pointer with 47.2 seconds left to keep L.A. ahead 92-88. He then sandwiched four foul shots around a defensive rebound to help the Lakers ice the game. In 24 minutes, Horry had four rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and was a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. 
