May 1st: "Bryant's jumper lifts L.A. to a stunning win and 3-1 series lead"

[Phil]

Taking It by the Horns
Bryant beats buzzer in regulation and again in overtime, when his jumper lifts L.A. to a stunning win and 3-1 series lead
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
May 1, 2006

The Lakers' playoff past, deep and striking, already is crammed full with a 15-point comeback in a desperate fourth quarter, a staggering fadeaway fling with 0.4 of a second left and, back a bit further, a rookie point guard putting up 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists while playing center.

And now this, unimaginably yet indelibly — an improbable steal by Smush Parker, an equally implausible play by Luke Walton and, on top of it all, two last-second shots by Kobe Bryant.

Instead of merely beating the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers pushed it a bit further Sunday, stunning them in regulation and again in overtime for a 99-98 victory and a 3-1 lead in their first-round series in front of a delirious, disbelieving Staples Center crowd.

Bryant had 24 points, four of which will be immediately tacked onto Laker lore — a high-arcing layup with 0.7 of a second left in the fourth quarter and a 17-footer over two defenders that beat the overtime buzzer.

[Phil]

It's one to grow on
BY ROSS SILER, Staff Writer


Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant and Devean George celebrate Bryant's shot at the buzzer to beat the Phoenix Suns in overtime by the score of 99 to 98. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer)

After the Lakers had celebrated in the locker room and considered just how they won Sunday's game, Kobe Bryant settled in front of the microphones in the interview room and summed everything up by saying, "And I just hit a 15-footer."

Whatever this era of Lakers basketball will become, with Bryant and Phil Jackson back together, with Smush Parker now a name never to be forgotten, the first defining moment came with a 99-98 overtime victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series.

When it was over, Bryant had hit two last-second shots, Parker had stolen the ball from the league's MVP at the end of regulation, and Jackson might as well have started the sequel to his last book, this time about a young team arriving in the playoffs.

"Some improbable games happen in the playoffs and this is certainly one of them," Jackson said, later adding, "I don't know if we deserved it or not, but we won."

Said Bryant: "I told them we matured about 10, 15 years today. We did a lot of growing up in this game."

[Phil]

A stunning LA sunset

Lakers 99, Suns 98 Bryant's overtime winner has LA within a win of taking its playoff series.

01:15 AM PDT on Monday, May 1, 2006

By BRODERICK TURNER
The Press-Enterprise

LOS ANGELES - Twice his Lakers stared at defeat, and both times Kobe Bryant breathed life back into his team.
Mark Zaleski / The Press-Enterprise
Kobe Bryant celebrates after hitting a 17-foot jumper as time expired to win it in overtime. "It was the most fun shot I've ever hit," he said.

As improbable as it was for the Lakers to come back from a five-point deficit with 12.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter Sunday, and then come back from a three-point deficit in the final seconds of overtime, it wasn't improbable to see Bryant deliver a buzzer-beating 17-footer to lift the Lakers to a seemingly unimaginable 99-98 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Bryant (24 points) also made a game-tying runner with seven-tenths of a second left in the fourth quarter. But he wasn't the only reason the Lakers opened a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven, first-round playoff series, with a chance to close the series Tuesday in Phoenix.

Smush Parker's strip of Phoenix's Steve Nash in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, which led to Bryant's game-tying shot, is a big reason the Lakers are in shape to advance to the Western Conference semifinals. Luke Walton tying up Nash with six seconds to play in overtime, forcing a jump ball that came off to Bryant for his dramatic final drive, is another.

[Phil]

It Feels Like Old Times in Los Angeles

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By HOWARD BECK
Published: May 1, 2006

LOS ANGELES, April 30 — The Lakers did not claim an N.B.A. championship Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center, but it looked, sounded and felt suspiciously like another coronation. A raucous, deafening and exhilarating one at that.

Kobe Bryant drained a 17-foot jumper as time expired, purple and gold streamers rained from the rafters and a crowd of 18,997 bounced and whooped and danced about a 99-98 overtime victory against the Phoenix Suns.

All the Lakers gained was a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series. But for a franchise in transition and a city spoiled by success, the moment carried so much more.

"The difference is, in the past, people expected us to win these games," a smiling Bryant said. "So hitting that shot was almost like a relief. The difference today is, nobody expects us to do anything against this team" — he stopped and took a breath — "or be in the playoffs."

[Phil]

A Split Second Caps Bryant's Finest Hour
May 1, 2006

This is the first playoff series where he's not trying to be Michael Jordan, and what happens?

Kobe Bryant is Michael Jordan.

These were the first pressure moments where he wasn't trying to be bigger than the Lakers, and guess what.

Kobe Bryant was a giant.

In Sunday's breathless late afternoon, after making two shots in two final ticks when it was too close to breathe and too loud to think, Bryant praised his young team for maturing.

But it's not them. It's him.

He's the one who has grown up.

He's the one who has finally realized the stardom buried in selflessness, the thrill hidden in teamwork, the love found in leadership.

In Sunday's final moments against the Phoenix Suns, he amazingly did not try to steal the show, and guess what.

Kobe Bryant stole the game.

He stole it twice.

He stole it with the flair of a Robert Horry and the drama of a Derek Fisher, not combined, but separately.

He repeated two lifetime Laker memories in a span of one second.

Think about that.

He made the tying shot with 0.7 of a second remaining in regulation, a dizzy, driving baseline runner.

"He just threw it up in the air," said stunned Sun Steve Nash.

[Phil]

Bryant seizes every moment
Kevin Modesti, Columnist

I was about to call this Kobe Bryant's finest moment.

Which is crazy, and not principally because I'd be rating it higher than the three NBA championships he's won with the Lakers, higher than his 81-point night, higher than all his other heroics.

It's crazy because I'd have to figure out which of Sunday afternoon's moments we're talking about.

Was it the moment when Bryant saved Luke Walton's jump-ball tap at the left sideline near midcourt, dribbled down and hit the 15-foot shot from the right corner of the lane as the overtime clock struck 0.0, sending Staples Center into throbbing celebration of a 99-98 Lakers victory over the Phoenix Suns and a 3-1 L.A. lead in this first-to-four playoff series?

Was it the moment, at the end of the fourth quarter, when Bryant took a pass from Devean George after Smush Parker stripped Steve Nash, and sank a high-looping layup over two defenders from the right baseline bored straight down through the net at 0.7 to force the overtime?

[Phil]

It's absolute bliss for L.A.
Steve Dilbeck, Columnist

It was a day all rational thought exited the building, when you checked to confirm all five senses were truly working.

It should not have happened. That's the only simple part.

A reasonable person would not have considered it even a possibility, would have been running from men in white coats for the mere suggestion.

Only sometimes athletics ignore probabilities, fly in the face of logic and time and odds, and conspire to create a truly special sporting moment.

The Lakers won a playoff game Sunday, which is like saying the Grand Canyon is a swell gorge.

The Lakers won a playoff game over the Suns that looked hopelessly lost. Twice.

They trailed Phoenix by five with 12.6 seconds to play, trailed by two and the ball in the hands of MVP Steve Nash with five seconds left in regulation.

"I thought it was over," said Suns forward Shawn Marion.

[Phil]

Finishes to Remember

10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, April 30, 2006

GREGG PATTON

LOS ANGELES -
LOS ANGELES
Rub your eyes. Now rub your eyes again. For the Lakers, it was two -- yes, two -- fantastic finishes for the price of one.

The Lakers have had some dramatic postseason moments in their giant book of thrills, but it might be hard to top the amazing two-fer they dropped on Phoenix on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center.

First a come-from-behind miracle in the last seconds of regulation, then another in overtime -- and with that (and that), the Lakers are up 3-1 and on the verge of an improbable berth in the second round of the NBA playoffs, possibly against the Clippers.

You can bring a Jerry West halfcourt shot to the table, and a Magic Johnson baby hook. You can talk Robert Horry three-pointers and a 0.4-second prayer by Derek Fisher.

On Sunday, though, the Lakers played dead twice and rose from the grave both times, finally winning it in overtime, 99-98, when Kobe Bryant's buzzer-beating 17-footer went through the net as the clock turned to zeroes.

[Phil]

By George, This Is Really Unbelievable for the Lakers
May 1, 2006

I can't imagine anyone being a bigger fan of the Clippers and Lakers these days than USC Coach Pete Carroll, hoping the teams meet in the playoffs and draw all the media attention in town.

The rest of us are excited for other reasons, of course, especially after Sunday's draining, lucky victory by the Lakers, which included the first miracle I have witnessed in my life: Back-to-back three-pointers in a critical situation by Devean George, and one more later with the game on the line.

"Why are you here talking to me?" George wanted to know after the game, and all I could think of was something Jack Buck had said while watching Kirk Gibson's home run: "I don't believe what I just saw."

It has to be fate, destiny's declaration that the Lakers are supposed to play the Clippers in the playoffs, and we all know who would win that series.

Then I really like the Clippers' chances of pulling an upset, beating San Antonio and playing for the NBA title.

[Phil]

'Lamar put us on his back'

LAKERS: Odom scores 25 points in a game-high 49 minutes to spark LA.

10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, April 30, 2006

By BRODERICK TURNER
The Press-Enterprise

LOS ANGELES - Lamar Odom worked extra hard Sunday in Game 4 of the Lakers' Western Conference playoff series against the Phoenix Suns.
Mark Zaleski / The Press-Enterprise
Lamar Odom's aggressive play against Boris Diaw and Phoenix help the Lakers to a 99-98 overtime win and a 3-1 playoff series lead.

Odom played a game-high 49 minutes, 17 seconds. He scored a game-high 25 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot.

"I don't know whether to be happy or to cry," said the 26-year-old forward. "It's an emotional roller coaster."

When the Lakers struggled in the fourth quarter, Odom went to work to help them reach overtime. He scored eight points, making both of his field-goal attempts and all four free throws. He had three assists.

"Lamar put us on his back," Kobe Bryant said. "It was him who carried us and got us to that point. He was making all the plays. He was in the post getting three-point plays, passing out of the double teams."

Odom drove to the hoop, scored and was fouled, and made the free throw to tie the score at 95 with 1:16 left in overtime.

Less than a minute later, he had a moment he wanted to forget and needed a lift himself.

With the Lakers trailing by three, Odom drove to the basket and missed a layup with 36 seconds left. He hung his head.

"I missed a layup," he said.

[Phil]

Parker Is Their Good Hands Man
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
May 1, 2006

This is definitely a long way from "the cage," the New York City playground where Smush Parker honed his skills, getting hacked, held and shoved within the oft-unfriendly confines on the corner of 6th Avenue and West 4th Street.

A living legend on asphalt, Parker on Sunday added "playoff hero" to his folio, plucking the ball from Phoenix guard Steve Nash with 4.9 seconds left in regulation and turning around a series, if not a franchise.

"After the game, everybody's emotions were going every which way," Parker said. "I believe I shed a tear or two. It was just an overwhelming experience."

On his fourth team in three NBA seasons, Parker finally has found a home after also bouncing around the Development League and Europe.

He led the Lakers in scoring with 18 points in Game 3 against the Suns and, despite his two-for-12 shooting in Game 4, came up with the difference-maker.

[Phil]

Vujacic has moments
BY ROSS SILER, Staff Writer

Considering where Sasha Vujacic was in October, missing 13 of 14 shots to open the exhibition season, to find the second-year guard on the court for more than 29 minutes Sunday afternoon was a remarkable development for the Lakers.

Vujacic finished with nine points and hit 2 of 3 3-pointers in Game 4, providing a lift as Smush Parker struggled with his shot. He also had Lakers coach Phil Jackson rising to his defense in talking to reporters before the game.

"Sasha, I think, has received the most criticism as a player, or more than any player I've ever coached," Jackson said, "simply because he's come into this game, this season, without any experience and having almost a disastrous rookie year last year and has had to fight his way through that and be accepted as a player really."

Jackson has seen that acceptance take place for both Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown with Lakers fans and would like to see it happen for Vujacic next. If nothing else, Vujacic has played an important role this series coming off the bench.

He is averaging nearly 19 minutes and has connected on 8 of 11 3-pointers.

In the end: Between the offensive fouls and the passes he threw away in the face of Phoenix's trapping defense, Bryant finished Sunday's game with seven turnovers to go with his eight assists.

[Phil]

George Provides a Late Lift

Broderick Turner

10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, April 30, 2006

LOS ANGELES - It was a shining performance by Devean George, one he has been waiting for.

George scored 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting, making all three of his three-pointers in the fourth quarter. His play helped the Lakers defeat the Suns, 99-98, in Sunday's Game 4 of their series.

"I just haven't been in a good rhythm shooting," George said. "My shots have been sporadic."

With the Lakers stagnant in the fourth quarter and with Phoenix double-teaming Kobe Bryant, George stepped up and made consecutive three-pointers to pull the Lakers within 71-70.

"It was just the flow of the game," he said. "We were scrambling, coming from behind. Kobe was penetrating, and they were rotating and leaving us open on the weak side."

After Smush Parker stripped Steve Nash late in the quarter, George got the ball and dribbled up court. He looked to his right and passed to Bryant, who made a baseline runner to tie the score at 90-90 with seven-tenths of a second left.

"I heard him: 'Hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey,' " George said. "Do you think he was just quietly running the lane and I didn't know where he was?"

[Phil]

Kobe sinks Suns on 'the most fun shot I've ever hit'
Stein
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Archive

LOS ANGELES -- You knew they were going in.

The looping layup on a baseline drive to force overtime. The running all-net dagger from the right elbow at the OT buzzer.

You just knew they were going in because Kobe Bryant took both shots.

Plus ...

Nobody knows OT torture like the Phoenix Suns.

Combine those two stubborn forces of NBA law and Sunday's thrilling outcome --improbable as it seemed to almost everyone who participated -- actually felt somewhat inevitable at the same time.

In this building, remember, these things happen for the Lakers.

You can say so now about the post-Shaq Lakers, too.

We snickered all season, with countless cracks about the L.A. Kobes, but this T-E-A-M suddenly has its own slice of Laker lore to go with that 3-1 series lead. The L.A. fans famed for leaving early lingered long at Staples Center after Bryant capped off a comeback to rival the fourth-quarter resurrection against Portland from 15 points down in Game 7 of the 2000 West finals. Or Robert Horry's 2002 triple from the top of the 3-point arc to snatch a 3-1 lead away from the Sacramento Kings.

So swept up in this latest Hollywood drama, No. 8 was just about prepared to rank it as his No. 1.

"The difference is," Kobe tried to explain, "in the past people expected us to win these games."

[Phil]

LA won game, not the series

Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
May. 1, 2006 12:00 AM

LOS ANGELES

Like it or not, we've been treated to a Superman moment. Now comes the wave of premature conclusions:

Kobe Bryant is the real MVP, not Steve Nash.
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Wrong.

The Suns are done, and all that's left is the eulogy.

Not if you saw what happened before Bryant's surreal strokes of brilliance.

"I told the team that some improbable games happen in the playoffs," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "This is one of them."

One. It's a key word for the Suns to remember.

Although a stunning, nauseating loss at the Staples Center on Sunday was enough to throw a wet blanket on the season and smother all hope, there are a few things to remember before jumping off the ledge:

With a few minutes left in the third quarter, Shawn Marion disappeared and the Matrix finally showed up. The Suns actually fought for loose balls and rebounds. Boris Diaw grew up and got mean. James Jones and Tim Thomas showed some big-shot moxie. And if you can get past the stardust of two magical shots, Raja Bell is doing a remarkable job defending the hugely talented Bryant.

If the Suns win Tuesday - and they will - they need to win one road game against a team that is not exactly the Showtime Lakers. They have had their chances in both of these games on enemy territory. It's hardly an impossible mission if Nash's balky back settles down.

"I'll be fine," Nash said.

[Phil]

Loss puts Suns in big hole

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 1, 2006 12:00 AM

LOS ANGELES - Victory and a series deadlock slipped away from the Suns like a mirage in the desert as they got closer to it on Sunday.

The only thing more improbable than the way Phoenix lost a five-point lead in the final 12.6 seconds of regulation and a three-point lead in the final 14.6 seconds of overtime seems to be extending its season with three straight wins after three straight losses.

The Suns' deflating 99-98 Game 4 overtime loss, delivered on Kobe Bryant's tying shot in regulation and buzzer-beating jumper for the win, puts the Lakers ahead 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. Of the 160 teams that have led 3-1 in the NBA, only seven lost the series.
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As the teams return to Phoenix for Game 5 on Tuesday, the 4 percent odds seem only slightly better than the chances of the Suns winning a game that comes down to one possession. After going 0-7 in games decided by three points or fewer in the regular season, Phoenix found a way to lose one more.

"It's like we're snakebitten or something. We're not getting it done," said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, who slipped at one point and said, "That's why we won" before correcting himself and adding, "I'm in denial."

Phoenix never trailed in the fourth quarter or overtime until Bryant sank the 17-footer over Boris Diaw after gathering a jump-ball tap at midcourt with 6.1 seconds to go.

"Two losses like that makes everybody sad," Suns guard Leandro Barbosa said. "We had the game in our hands. I still don't believe what happened."

[Phil]

Shocking, unlikely, wild win by Lakers

L.A. takes 3-1 series lead over Phoenix

By Jay Posner
STAFF WRITER

May 1, 2006


LOS ANGELES – Even after it ended, after the likes of Smush Parker and Luke Walton had given Kobe Bryant the chance to deal his team a devastating defeat, Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni was a bit disoriented.

So much so, in fact, that as D'Antoni finished listing all the things his team had done well in yesterday's mind-boggling first-round NBA playoff game at Staples Center, he said, “That's why we won.”

Oops.

“That's why we came close,” he said, quickly correcting himself. “I'm in denial.”

[Phil]

TALK OF THE TOWN
Sekou Smith - Staff
Monday, May 1, 2006

Los Angeles --- Say it out loud and the stares come shooting across the Los Angeles Lakers' locker room like lasers.

Yet it's on the minds of everyone here in the shadow of Hollywood. Both of this city's NBA teams --- the Lakers and the Clippers --- are in the playoffs in the same season for just the fourth time with a chance of meeting in the next round.

"We're not thinking that far ahead right now," said Lakers forward and Southern California native Luke Walton, the son of basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton. "But I think for the people of this city and for everyone that would be involved, that would be an awesome thing to witness and be a part of. This city would go crazy."

It's not crazy talk.

The Lakers are a game away from clinching their first-round series with Phoenix after Kobe Bryant's jumper at the buzzer in overtime Sunday gave them a 99-98 Game 4 win and a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday night in Phoenix.