Since the Lakers won their back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010, I’ve heard arguments over the years about Team X and Team Y and how they coulda, shoulda, woulda won if X or Y had happened.
It is, of course, very natural for players, coaches or fans to feel that way, and the Lakers aren’t immune: “If Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza were healthy the 2008 Finals woulda been different!”
One of these arguments comes from the Phoenix Suns, whom the Lakers beat 4-2 in the 2010 Western Conference Finals. Suns folk may point to the Ron Artest putback of Kobe Bryant’s miss late in Game 5, and how that would have changed everything had the game gone to OT, but I beg to differ for multiple reasons:
1) L.A. controlled that entire game, leading 24-21 after 1, 53-45 at halftime, 78-72 after 3, 101-96 with 1:38 left and 101-98 with 3 second left before Jason Richardson banked in a 3 for the tie.
2) You can’t “if/and/but” a great play from Artest that came in part because Kobe drew the entire defense, and because Artest had a knack for stuff like that.
3) Kobe then completely and utterly destroyed the Suns in their own building in Game 6…
And that Game 6 is why we’re here, with a focus on Bryant’s ruthless performance:
Starting for the Lakers: Fisher, Kobe, Artest, Gasol and Bynum; Phoenix: Steve Nash, Richardson, Grant Hill, Amare Stoudemire and Robin Lopez.
FIRST QUARTER
10:34: Kobe drilled the first of many pull-up jump shots, worrying little about Hill’s defense, and simply rising over the top of the 6’8’’ former All-Star. On the broadcast, Doug Collins mentioned that Kobe had been doing most of his damage in the second and third quarters, but he wouldn’t follow that pattern in this one, hitting 4 of 7 FG’s, including a 3 plus a FT, for 10 points.
8:35: The Suns were playing a ton of zone defense to try and limit Kobe and Pau, and often leaving Artest or, when he checked in, Lamar Odom open or single covered. Artest was more than happy to pick up the slack, and nailed five of his seven 1st Q shots, including a 3-pointer and baby hook shot at the rim at the 8:35 mark to put LAL up 14-12. He actually outscored Kobe 12-10 in the 1st.
6:31: Kobe’s 3-pointer put the Lakers up 22-19. He’d hit a ridiculous and-1 moments earlier, while simultaneously trying to limit the bleeding on his right middle finger that actually required trainer Gary Vitti to work on him on the bench.
1:13 Phoenix shot the ball well in the 1st Q, helping them stay close despite L.A. also hitting everything. Jordan Farmar’s 3 at the 1:13 mark allowed the biggest margin, at 35-31, and Kobe countered a Stoudemire and-1 with another jumper at the 47.3 mark to send L.A. into the 2nd Q up 37-34. But in an elimination game, PHX had to be concerned that they were trailing despite playing their game well, especially as Kobe got that look in his eye…
SECOND QUARTER
7:47: Sasha Vujacic drained a pull-up 2-pointer over fellow Slovenian Goran Dragic, a fun lil’ subplot in this series, as the countrymen weren’t exactly the best of friends (this would come to a head in the 4th Q). This jumper was key, because Phoenix had just taken a 43-42 lead, but LAL’s Bench Mob (Farmar, Vujacic, Brown and Odom plus Bynum) exploded towards a 9-0 run with Bynum adding 2 FT’s and a dunk, and a Farmar 3 to follow The Machine’s J. The capper was a corner 3 from Farmar that happened after Odom waved him over to the open spot on the floor. As such, PHX trailed 51-43, and had to call time out despite Kobe and Pau getting rest.
5:11: The starters returned, and Stoudemire hit a J at the FT line to stop the run, only to see Artest sink a corner 3 from Fisher, his 3rd triple of the half, to put LAL up 9. Ron Ron was so big that entire season.
7:47: Odom was fantastic in the 2nd, scoring six points on 3 of 5 FG’s, with three boards and two assists to secure a +10 point differential. He scored at the rim at both the 2:58 mark and the 1:18 mark to keep the Lakers in firm control.
0:12.9: It’s hard to call a first half shot a dagger, but Kobe’s 3-pointer on LAL’s final possession of the 2nd Q was huge from a confidence standpoint, sucking what little life was in the building almost completely out as the team’s ran to the locker room … especially because the shot came from way deep, around 28 feet. The score was 65-53, with Kobe and Artest combining for 30 points. “The Phoenix Suns having their difficulties in this 2nd Q,” said Marv Albert.
THIRD QUARTER
8:19 Kobe drew a Michael Jordan comparison as being one of the two all-time greats at hitting end-of-clock shots from Doug Collins, as he hit a really tough 3 while going through two Suns defenders to his right, near the top of the key. That was his third triple, and put LAL up 72-57.
4:35: LAL continued to keep Phoenix at bay, and this despite Kobe yet to go into his absurd jumper streak that’s coming up. He hit two more FT’s to reach 20 points. Then came yet another Artest 3, two Pau FT’s and a fantastic lefty layup from Artest to push the lead to 18.
1:45: LET THE KOBE JUMPER ONSLAUGHT BEGIN! First, Kobe went through his progression of moves keyed by that terrific footwork, and canned a contested jumper over current Laker Jared Dudley from the top of the key. That move included his patented bump-off-with-the-shoulder move off to create space against good defense.
1:09: After Leandro Barbosa countered with a 3, Kobe again isolated on Dudley, this time catching the ball inside the 3-point line, bursting to his left, and stepping back for a fadeaway.
4:35: Barbosa answered that jumper too, but Kobe wasn’t done. This time he took Dudley to the other side of the floor, up-faking him and drawing a second defender in 7-foot tall Channing Frye. So Kobe simply rose over the top of Frye, too, and buried yet another 2-point shot, to make it 91-74 Lakers heading into the 4th Q.
FOURTH QUARTER
11:18: I mentioned the Slovenia rivalry earlier … it peaked here when Vujacic was given a flagrant foul for elbowing Dragic after Dragic said something Sasha didn’t like (note to self: ask Sasha about this!). Goran had really struggled, but went on a personal 8-0 run including the FT’s to allow Phoenix some hope, as the margin narrowed to nine at 91-82. Farmar would stop the bleeding with an 18-footer at the 9:58 mark, before Kobe returned with 9:42 to play, up 11.
4:33: Phoenix kept its momentum behind Dragic and Amare, whose layup trimmed the margin to five at the 6:09 mark. Neither team would score for the next 1:30 or so of action, when Kobe hit an absurd leaning jumper/floater mix from 21 feet to beat the clock, splitting Suns defenders (Dudley and Frye again), to make it 97-90.
1:59: After Phoenix trimmed the margin to three, the closest they’d been since the first quarter, Kobe hit an absolutely savage jump shot through the double team of Hill and Frye, spinning quickly to his left before rising up right in front of Suns coach Alvin Gentry. LAL got a stop on defense, and Bryant drew Frye’s foul in transition before hitting two FT’s to make it 103-96, immediately giving the Lakers breathing room yet again.
0:35.2: THE. BLACK. MAMBA. Ah, at last. One of my favorite Kobe daggers ever: Kobe caught the ball with seven seconds left on the shot clock, four feet above the 3-point line with Grant Hill draped to him. As the clock went down, Kobe got just in front of Gentry again, rose over the top of Hill after a series of pump fakes, and buried the shot to make it 107-100. Amazing.
0:00: Final: Lakers 111, Suns 103. Kobe finished a legendary performance with 37 points on 12 of 25 FG’s (3 of 8 3’s) and 10 of 11 FT’s, plus six boards, two assists and two steals, for a +19 in 41 minutes. Artest pitched in 25 points, and Odom 12 boards off the pine as LAL vanquished the Suns and went on the meet the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals en route to their second straight championship.