LOS ANGELES -- Here's how I typically write a basketball game story: Game ends. I start writing. Get some quotes, shove them in there somewhere, and hit the send button. It's not rocket science, people.
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| The Lakers' chances are always greater when Kobe Bryant is the No. 1 option. (Getty Images) |
What was he thinking Wednesday night? That's what I want to know. If you watched the game, that's probably what you want to know, too. Why in the world was the NBA's best pure scorer since Michael Friggin' Jordan not shooting in the first half? It's a question even Lakers coach Phil Jackson was wondering at halftime, which ended with the Spurs leading by eight points and Kobe Bryant having attempted three shots. He made one.
While we're waiting for Kobe, here's Jackson. He's taking questions. Someone is asking him if Bryant's first half was "by design."
Jackson smirked.
"No," he said. "(Kobe) wasn't taking shots available to him. He was looking to pass the ball. ... He was doing some things good, but it had gotten us out of rhythm during the course of the first half."
I'll say. The Lakers never led in the first half. Kobe was scoring two points and handing out five assists, and if his name were Chucky Atkins, that would have been a nice half. But his name is Kobe Bryant. His teammates' names are irrelevant. He doesn't need five assists. He needs 25 shots.
This nonsense seeped into the third quarter. With six minutes left in the period, Bryant had scored four points. The Spurs led 65-45.
While we're waiting for Kobe to explain himself, here's Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. First, understand where Popovich has been the last few days. He's been in purgatory. It started Monday night after San Antonio beat New Orleans in a grueling Game 7 while the Lakers were resting, and waiting, in Los Angeles. After that game the Spurs went to the New Orleans airport, where they got on their plane and sat. And sat. And finally slept.
Turns out, the plane had mechanical problems but no mechanic. With a cable company convention in town, there were no hotel rooms available, so the Spurs slept on the plane. Shortly before sunrise the mechanic showed up. Eventually the Spurs flew to Los Angeles, arriving Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. They didn't practice Tuesday, and then Popovich awoke Wednesday to stories in the Los Angeles Times reminding him and everyone else of the whining he had done months earlier when the Lakers traded a big bag of zilch to Memphis for Pau Gasol.
"What they did in Memphis is beyond comprehension," Popovich said at the time. "I would have voted no to the L.A. trade."
So the last 48 hours had been rough on Popovich. But here comes Game 1 of the conference finals against the Lakers, and something finally goes right. Kobe Bryant goes into hiding. And Popovich, he can't believe his luck.
"Kobe was doing his trust-his-teammates thing in the first half," Popovich said, wistfully. "He was checking it all out and seeing where his territory would be."
