Kobe Bryant amazing, Lakers over Utah in game 5
NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.
Kobe Bryant - from back spasms in game 4 to greatness in game 5
Image details: Los Angeles Lakers v Utah Jazz, Game 4 served by picapp.com
Kobe Bryant could not be stopped.
From passing that is.
Kobe had a sore back and was going to make Utah pay for it.
And they did.
The last 7 or 8 minutes of this game showed why Los Angeles is so dangerous as a team. The ball was moving all over the court, finally settling in Kobe’s hands sucking in the defense. Kobe would then drive to the hole and distribute the ball for a dunk or 3 pointer or easy jump shot.
If Utah tried to stop Kobe they fouled him and sent him to the line, where Kobe lived for his 4th quarter points. Kobe Bryant has beautiful foul shooting form and showed it once again with the game on the line.
The Los Angeles Lakers led the Utah Jazz all the way through the 4th quarter, but the margin was slim and the game was in doubt until the very end. Every time Memo Okur or Deron Williams would make a good play, Kobe had the answer. The answer was the Laker’s team and Kobe was the captain of that ship.
This time it was Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom leading the Lakers down the home stretch.
The two combined for 13 fourth-quarter points and the Lakers never trailed in a 111-104 victory over the Jazz in Game 5 of their Western Conference Semifinal series at the Staples Center on Wednesday.
Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles with 26 points, but it was Gasol and Odom nailing clutch shots in the final minutes to give the Lakers a 3-2 series lead.
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Kobe played in this game after suffering severe back spasms in the last game. It was doubtful he would be at full strength. Heck, it was doubtful he would be able to even play. Maybe that is why he took so few shots, but play he did.
They huddled in a tunnel here at the Staples Center early Wednesday evening, waiting to run onto the court, their season having reached a crossroads. Bryant nodded.
“I’m good,” he said.
Did anyone doubt he wouldn’t be? Isn’t this what the great ones, the MVPs, do? Bryant once jetted in from a Colorado courtroom to hang 42 points on the San Antonio Spurs in a playoff game, and back spasms were going to stop him?
Not on Wednesday. Bryant stepped onto the stage and starred yet again, fighting off the Jazz in a tense 111-104 victory that left the Lakers within one win of the Western Conference finals.
Bryant’s teammates saw all they needed to see 18 seconds into the game. With the fans having barely settled into their seats, Bryant raised up and buried a long three-pointer. He followed with a 14-foot jumper. Already, his teammates on the bench began to laugh. Lamar Odom had predicted Bryant’s “gun to be blazing,” and it certainly looked like that’s how the evening was heading.
The Lakers needed the game to maintain home court and gain a 3 - 2 series lead.
The next game is in Utah and Kobe will once again be called upon to shake off the effects of coming back from the back spasms. Once again, we will have to wait and see, but one thing is for sure, this time we all expect him back and expect him to be great!
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POSTED IN: Deron Williams, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol, Utah Jazz
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