Nuggets Basketball

Never have words been less prophetic, particularly from the lips of Mr. Clutch himself, Kobe Bryant’s mentor and adopted basketball father, Jerry West. Amidst a frenzy of speculation pitting the Cavs’ LeBron James against the Lakers’ Bryant, Kobe managed a stunner for friends and foes alike, giving an all-out performance against the Nuggets in game 1 that brought the Lakers a narrow 105-103 victory.

The series opened Tuesday night, with the Lakers entering against the Nuggets after an unimpressive series against the Houston Rockets. The Nuggets were able to grab the lead in the first half, but by the fourth quarter, Kobe seized the game. He finished having made 40 points, with 18 in the last quarter, and sank in six free throws in the last 30 seconds.

“Once I sensed we didn’t have the energy,” Bryant explained, “I had to take it upon myself to lead by example.”

Lead by example he did. The Nuggets had managed a 13 point lead in the first quarter, with Carmelo Anthony scoring 20 points in his first 20 minutes of play time. Anthony made 39 points in the game, and Chancey Billups added 18, making seemingly impossible 3 pointers. The Lakers, on the other hand, seemed frozen. By the fourth quarter, LA was struggling against a seven point deficit with seven minutes remaining. Pau Gasol tossed two free throws that tied the game at 99. Then Kobe sprang into action.

Bryant started at the line, driving for a layup that closed the gap to five points, made two free throws, and hit a fadeaway jumper. He interrupted Billups’ smooth 3 pointers and a free throw by J.R. Smith. In the last seven minutes, he scored 15 points and added 3 more when he passed to Derek Fisher in the right corner. In short, Bryant gave the performance that Lakers fans had come to expect from him, classic Kobe: clutch shooting, hard closing, and a winning mentality that barreled in on the Nuggets like a train.

He even popped an injured finger, which had to be forced back into place.

Coincidence? Perhaps – if it is a coincidence that back in 2003, in a game against the all time star Michael Jordan, Bryant had a season-high 55 points. Perhaps it is also a coincidence that West – the man who traded for Bryant back when teenagers were considered risky, who offered support as Bryant bickered with Shaquille O’Neal – betrayed his young protégé on the eve of a key playoff series, in the wake of Bryant’s loss of the MVP to LeBron James.

Whether intentional or not, West appears to have incited Bryant into a fury that left fans breathless at the edges of their seats.

“Tonight we had very little else going for us,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, “and [Bryant] muscled his way through that game.”

Bryant has claimed that he is unconcerned about the debate over best player. “It hasn’t been, ‘Can you stay on top as the best individual basketball player,’” Bryant said. “That’s not something that has driven me. It’s about winning another championship.”

Game 2 is on Thursday.

KERRY