Retro Diary

Mike Trudell

One of Kobe Bryant’s most clinical, ruthless and efficient playoff performances is one that gets lost amidst so many others: Game 6 of the 2009 Western Conference Finals, at Denver.

I was very fortunate to cover every game Kobe played from the start of the 2008-09 season until his 60-point finale in 2016, and that Game 6 was one of my favorites.

After splitting the first four games with the Nuggets, the Lakers put themselves in position to clinch the series with a 103-94 win in Game 5, and Kobe was in full Black Mamba mode from the opening tip.

Here’s a running diary of that contest:

STARTERSLakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe, Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Andrew BynumNuggets: Chauncey Billups, Dahntay Jones, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, Nenê Hilario

FIRST QUARTER11:35: After a missed alley-oop from Fisher to Bynum, Kobe – who’d drawn the early double team to create the first shot, a trend that would continue – jumped a passing lane to force a loose ball, and Billups had to foul him to prevent a turnover. On the ensuing inbounds play, Jones didn’t want to leave Kobe, allowing Gasol a 1-on-1 opportunity on the low block, which he used to calmly convert a hook over Nene.

7:17: Kobe’s first points of came at the free throw line, to make it 9-5 early, after Bynum blocked Billups at the rim. The Lakers were getting much better shots than Denver, who struggled with LAL’s length in the paint, and their ball movement out of double teams. Two minutes later, Lamar Odom – the NBA’s best player that didn’t start, by far – checked in to set LAL’s top lineup; he was a +18 in their Game 5 win.

0:00: Kobe grabbed a board – his third – as time expired with his team up 25-20; Bryant played a complete floor game in the first 12 minutes that would extend to the next three quarters, as he drew Nuggets attention that resulted in part on players like Ariza really getting the job done, hitting 4 of 5 FG’s for 10 points.

SECOND QUARTER8:41: Kobe sat for only six minutes in the game, including to start the 2nd Q, as Jordan Farmar (8:02) and Sasha Vujacic (6:55) got their first run. Shannon Brown would also play a key set of minutes in the fourth quarter, though this was essentially a 7-man rotation for Phil Jackson (including an impressive performance from Luke Walton alongside Odom off the bench). Vujacic hit a 3 to put LAL up six as Kobe rested, but Denver rallied to take a 1-point lead behind sub J.R. Smith, who was already up to 11 points. As such, Jackson put Kobe in out of the next time out, and he prompted notched his third assist on a short baseline J for Walton.

5:54: Coming out of a time out, ESPN showed a highlight of LeBron James dismantling Orlando in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals to make it 3-2 Orlando; many of us thought we were destined for Kobe vs. LeBron in the Finals, but Orlando ended up closing the Cavs out in six.

Alas, LAL’s game still appeared to be in doubt at this point, as they led by one despite controlling much of the game. Then, Fisher drilled a 3, starting a big Kobe-led run in the final six minutes of the second that put L.A. in firm control. ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy made a good point as Kobe scored two of his 11 points in the period at the FT line, noting that his strength was very underrated, as he was so good at taking contact, keeping his balance and still managing to either convert his FGA, or get to the line.

0:04.1: Kobe drilled a corner 3-pointer to cap a 9-1 run that closed the half, making it a 13-point margin, 53-40. That gave him 18 points, six assists and three boards, for a +19 in 20 minutes of action. After revealing to then sideline reporter Doris Burke that he was taking what DEN was giving him offensively, he said the key to the second half would be: “Stay disciplined defensively.”

THIRD QUARTER8:23: With Denver again focused on Kobe, Gasol started to feast after a first half in which he took only four shots (hitting three). A beauty of a move around Martin ended in a touch shot off the glass; the Spaniard had eight points and five boards in the quarter to keep the Lakers firmly in control.

6:06: Back-to-back buckets from Walton both came from Kobe, his 7th and 8th dimes to that point. Moments later, Kobe took contact from Billups and Nene, hung in the air, and banked in a floater plus the foul to make it 71-55. Among his most difficult shots of the game came moments later, a hanging, contested long two that put the Lakers up 20.

0:06.0: A steal from Gasol on a brainy read in the paint resulted in a pair of Vujacic FT’s, his 3rd and 4th of the past minute, that sent L.A. into the 4th Q with an 83-67 lead. The Lakers wouldn’t miss a free throw all night, converting 24 of 24.

FOURTH QUARTER11:05: After scoring at the rim courtesy of a pretty pass from Gasol – who’d drawn the double teams that George Karl ran at him and Kobe for much of the night – Odom pulled up and drilled a 3-pointer to put the Lakers up 88-67, their biggest lead to that point. Odom ended up with 20 points, including 12 in the 4th Q, delivering in a big way for Kobe just as he did all season. The Lakers shot the ball extremely well all night, converting 9 of 16* attempts from distance as a team (56.3%), and 57.3% overall.

*As a reference to the evolution of 3-point shooting, the team that attempted the fewest 3’s in the NBA in 2022-23, Chicago, took 28.9.

8:02; 6:58; 6:15: With three straight baskets, Kobe climbed up to 35 points, and did so in typically versatile fashion as a scorer, to basically bury the Nuggets. First came a beautiful pump fake that got Nene in the air, opening a path for a driving dunk; next he blew by J.R. Smith from the top of the key and finished with a finger roll. Finally, Bryant caught the ball on the right wing, and used his patented footwork to set up for a three without giving up his triple threat position, and rose and fired.

2:49: Bryant’s 10th assist came on another feed to Gasol, this one right at the rim after Kobe drew the defense on a baseline drive. That completed one of the more precise games you’ll see in a game with such high stakes, as Kobe had only one turnover on the evening. Phil Jackson would pull him moments later, with L.A. up 26.

0:00: The final: Lakers 119, Nuggets 92. Kobe’s 35 points came on 12 of 20 FG’s (60.0%), 2 of 4 3’s and 9 of 9 FT’s, with the 10 assists, one turnover, six rebounds and one block for a game-best +31.

Kobe summarized to Burke: “We had the effort and the execution to match … we executed extremely well. We gained valuable experience. It’s been a physical march all the way back to the Finals. Every series has been tough, and now we’re back in a place where we didn’t finish our business last year. Hopefully we will this year.”

And they would, bringing Kobe’s first of two consecutive Finals MVP awards.

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Retro Running Diary: Kobe Crushes Nuggets

It was the summer of 2012. LeBron James had just won his first NBA championship, finally climbing that mountain he’d been trying to scale since being drafted No. 1 in 2003.

The Miami Heat had found their footing after a rockier-than-expected first season, which culminated in a Finals loss to Dallas, and had Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh back to flank LeBron.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant – just two seasons removed from his 4th and 5th championships – had just picked up some serious ammunition, as chronicled with the (now infamous) Sports Illustrated cover, "Now This is Going to be Fun," with Steve Nash and Dwight Howard joining him in purple and gold.

It was a foregone conclusion for most that Kobe and LeBron would finally meet in the NBA Finals for the first time. But … not before they were teammates. Not before representing their country with Team USA, in London, for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

And who was on the other side? Kobe’s beloved teammate, Pau Gasol, from whom he’d also wrestled the 2008 gold medal*, before placing it in Pau’s locker prior to that 2008-09 season as a form of motivation that, clearly, worked!
*Kobe was huge in that game, with 20 points, six assists, and much of the big crunch time plays for the Americans in their Redeem Team effort to make up for the 2004 Olympic failure.

Oh, and who was deep on the Team USA bench? That’s right, Anthony Davis! The No. 1 pick in that summer’s Draft, 19-year-old AD learned a ton being around Kobe, LeBron and Co. in London.

Starting for Team USA: Chris Paul, Kobe, LeBron, Kevin Durant and Tyson Chandler ; Spain: Jose Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy Fernandez, Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol.

FIRST QUARTER9:43: The game opened with Kobe operating in screen/roll with Chandler, and just as the announcer expected Bryant to pull up and shoot, he made a perfect pass to Tyson for the dunk. Chandler would play only nine minutes in the game, with Carmelo Anthony being preferred in small lineups.

6:21: Navarro buried his third triple in the first six minutes to put Spain up 12-7, and the Americans were stagnant offensively, a bit unsure how to attack Spain with Pau and Marc packing the paint. In these times, in the half court, Coach K’s squad often looked to Kobe, who buried a pull-up corner 3 despite Pau being in his face.

5:56: This play won’t make any highlight reel since it ended in a foul and two Durant FT’s, but it’s notable from a current Lakers standpoint, as LeBron grabbed a defensive board, and immediately turned to fire a full-court pass to a streaking KD, much like he’d do so many times to Davis eight years later. Meanwhile, Kobe hit another three on top of two KD FT’s (USA kept possession due to a flagrant foul), using LeBron’s screen to free himself from Spain’s zone defense, and the Americans led 15-12.

3:56: After the JCN flamethrowing start, USA asserted its advantages pretty easily, with their small ball frontcourt (LeBron/Durant/Carmelo) causing havoc. LeBron did much of the table-setting for ‘Melo, who scored eight quick points to make it 25-16.

0:00: At this time, USA subs Russell Westbrook and James Harden were still playing for OKC, as was Spain sub Serge Ibaka (Spain granted Ibaka, born in Congo, citizenship in 2011; he grew up in the Congo, but moved to France, and then Spain, at age 17 to play hoops). Durant checked back in to flank his teammates, and hit a three on top of a Westbrook two to put USA up 35-27 after 1. Of course, Harden was at the time unable to come to a contract extension agreement with the Thunder, and two months after the Olympics, just before the season started, OKC traded him to Houston. Oops.

SECOND QUARTER8:23: Spain opened the period on a 7-0 run to trim the lead to one, so LeBron got the ball at the top of the key, and exploded to the rim for a 1-handed dunk, his first points after a series of pretty passes in his first stint. James has always prided himself on making the best basketball play, and with so much scoring talent around him, he chose to facilitate early.

5:29: Spain continued a solid 2nd Q, even taking a brief lead, but Marc Gasol’s 4th foul was a blow. He went for an offensive board, but was boxed out by Kevin Love. The only counter point here was that this moved Pau to center, and made Spain more versatile on both ends, as Team USA played the majority of their minutes without a classic center.

2:44: LeBron scored eight points in the quarter to help the Americans to a 55-49 lead, doing most of his damage at the rim, where nobody’s ever been able to stop him.

0:00: A late cold stretch in which the USA offense again got stagnant benefitted Spain, still very much in a game that was (wrongly) a foregone conclusion for many, who didn’t consider the massive edge in chemistry and experience held by Spain, whose players had been playing together for many years. Four free throws in the final 43 seconds trimmed the margin to just one at halftime, USA up 59-58.

THIRD QUARTER12:00-5:02:This stretch to start the 3rd Q was an absolute masterclass from Pau, who was at center with his brother in deep foul trouble. Chandler was replaced by Love inside after Tyson fouled Pau at the 8:19 mark, and Gasol continued to abuse Love for the next five minutes. Soon, he’d scored 13 straight points for Spain, singlehandedly keeping them in front 71-70 despite the Americans starting to get hot on the other end.

4:53: Despite that incredible stretch from Pau, the reality was that Kobe and LeBron were on the other team. The two former MVP’s dunked in succession, and Bryant then rose for a 3 to answer Pau’s and-1, making it 73-71, USA.

3:34: Kobe put his head down and drove straight into Pau in Spain’s paint, getting to the FT line to put USA up 77-72. Before he took the FT’s and went to the bench for a rest, the cameras cut over to Vanessa, Natalia and Gianna cheering him on – good luck trying to keep your eyes dry.

1:59: Durant made back-to-back 3’s to put USA up 83-80, before two Spain FT’s with 27 seconds left (Ibaka) again trimmed the margin to a single point. It was nervous time for the Americans watching, and excitement time for much of the rest of the world, hoping for an upset. And again, what a quarter from Pau, who had 15 of his 24 points.

FOURTH QUARTER9:48: The game started with Kobe finding Chandler for a dunk, and the fourth quarter started with Kobe finding LeBron for a layup. LeBron spinned off his smaller defender at the FT line and spun to the rim, and Kobe waited for him to get open before slipping in a perfect pocket pass. With Pau resting, Chris Paul then scored five straight points to make it 90-84.

6:51: Marc Gasol finally returned for the first time in the second half, and immediately scored in the post. The U.S. didn’t have an answer for him inside, unless they played Chandler, at the expense of the offense. However, Durant quickly hit his fifth three of the game towards 30 points to answer.

6:00: Kobe drew a 3-point shooting foul, with Fernandez sticking his hand in the cookie jar and Kobe taking advantage; his 2-of-3 FT’s put USA up 95-86, the most breathing room they’d had since the first half. Moments later, Kobe would grab a ‘Melo miss and stick it back, off the glass, for a 10-point margin.

3:20: With LeBron waiting to return to the game, the Americans had back-to-back turnovers (Kobe, then ‘Melo), and Spain scored four straight to get within six, and keep Team USA from feeling too comfortable.

2:48: LeBron! Man. On the first offensive possession since he returned, James capitalized on a defensive mistake on the perimeter, where Fernandez and Sergio Llull got confused with Durant running up from the corner and around James and gave LeBron a clear path to the rim. That’s one problem with the zone defense, as Rudy couldn’t cover two players, and Marc couldn’t get over in time to even contest LeBron. LeBron shot himself out of a cannon from the 3-point line, throwing down a vicious dunk with his right hand after taking one dribble. USA up eight.

1:59: Kobe provided the final daggers in 2008, and in 2012, it was LeBron, pulling up for a 3-pointer that made it 102-93. Game, essentially, over. Kobe totaled 17 points on 5 of 10 FG’s (3 of 7 3’s) and 4 of 5 FT’s plus two boards and two assists, while LeBron went for 19 points on 8 of 13 FG’s (1 of 3 3’s), seven boards and four assists (a team high) with two steals.

0:08: After the starters were subbed out to receive their ovations from an appreciative crowd, 19-year-old Anthony Davis was among those to finish out the game, and AD actually registered the last statistic of the game, a defensive rebound.

0:00: And so, with LeBron and AD sharing their first success together as teammates on one hand, Pau again had to suffer defeat to his Lakers teammate. When the final buzzer sounded, it was moving to see the USA players go over to embrace Pau,  one by one, led by Kobe, who held onto the Spaniard for an extended hug, getting a series of head pats from the ever-professional Gasol.

It was also great to see Kobe and LeBron share a hug on the bench, and to wonder how soon their respective minds would start thinking about the Lakers and the Heat. Of course, Kobe’s tearing of his Achilles late that season, just as the Lakers were starting to pull things together to make a run, pre-empted a chance at that happening. LeBron would ultimately secure his second consecutive title in a classic 7-game series against San Antonio.

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USA vs. Spain for Gold: Retro Running Diary from the 2012 Olympics

Before the Lakers hosted the Mavericks on Dec. 6, 2002, we had two key facts: Dallas was 17-1, boasting the fourth-best start in NBA history; and the Lakers had won 23 straight home games against Dallas, a ridiculous form of domination in the Kobe/Shaq tenure.

Who knew that, after three quarters of playing subpar basketball, the Lakers would execute the second-biggest fourth quarter comeback in NBA history*?*MIL over ATL in 1977.

You see, Shaq was just starting to round into form, having missed the start of the season coming off LAL’s back-to-back-to-back championships due to toe surgery he’d had on Sept. 11 – which of course had its own narrative. He was playing just his 9th game, and against a smallish Mavs squad that on paper had no answer for him.

The Lakers, without Shaq and with the championship hangover, had started just 3 for 9, and were 7-13 overall.

Starting for the Lakers: Fisher, Kobe, Fox, Stanislav Medvedenko and Shaq; Dallas: Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki, Raef LaFrentz and Adrian Griffin (with Nick Van Exel off the bench).

FIRST QUARTER8:10: Dallas opened the game 4 for 4 from three to take a 16-6 lead, spreading the floor with Dirk at the top of the key, as each starter but Finley buried a triple.

6:01: Kobe picked up his 2nd PF, on a charge, and had to sit with LAL already down 18-9. Kobe had some remarkable games before Shaq returned: 33, 15 and 12 in a W over the Clippers; 33, 14 and 12 in a W vs. Portland; 41, 9 and 4 in an OT loss to Boston; 45, 4 and 4 in an OT win over Golden State. But other than those three wins, the team struggled, with so much different on the court without Shaq.

0:22.2: The most impactful player for LAL in the first was Big Shot Bob Horry, who came off the bench to pitch in seven points in five minutes, hitting 3 of 4 FG’s if only 1 of 4 FT’s, to keep the deficit reasonable at 29-24 after 12 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER9:46: Kareem Rush hit a J to bring LAL within a point at 31-30, but the Mavericks would completely dominate the rest of the quarter.

4:40: Five minutes later, Dallas held a 47-31 lead, with Van Exel hitting yet another Mavs 3, following up seven straight points from Dirk.

1:59: Subs Samaki Walker and Tracy Murray managed B2B buckets to trim the deficit to 49-36, but in the next two minutes, the Mavs went nuts on offense.

0:00: Here was the sequence: Van Exel 3 (1:44); Nash 3 (1:12); Dirk 3 (0
:48.9); Finley and-1 layup (37.8); … Dirk and-1 (0:01.7). LAL failed to score, missing shots early in the clock or turning it over, and found themselves down 64-36, with Mark Cuban freaking out behind the Dallas bench. And, remember, the Mavs hadn’t beaten the Lakers here in years. LAL actually got booed off the floor at the half.

THIRD QUARTER10:53 LAL opened the third with a Fisher three, and Phil made an adjustment by replacing Slava with Horry in the starting lineup. And yet, the funny thing about this game, is that if you knew going in that the Lakers would ultimately win, you’d assume that they started to really cut into that huge lead in the third quarter. But that’s not how it went. Kobe (1 for 7 to that point) kept missing.

4:00: Shaq went up for a powerful dunk, trying to provide some momentum with L.A. trailing 75-54, but the Lakers just couldn’t get within 20.

2:34: Well, they got it to 78-58 on a Kobe J, but Van Exel answered with a three, then a two, to help Dallas take an 88-61 lead out of the third quarter. Nick was terrific, with 25 points off the bench and five triples … but he, like the rest of the Mavs, got cold in the fourth.

FOURTH QUARTER11:07: How many times had Brian Shaw sparked the Lakers with a 3? His triple was the first make of the fourth quarter, trimming the lead to 24, but the fans didn’t really believe just yet…

8:36: The general rule in the NBA is that if you’re within 10 with six minutes to play, you have a chance for a comeback. Anything about that is just gonna be tough, as you’re battling not just the opponent and the deficit, but the clock. LAL had outplayed Dallas to start the 4th Q, slowly starting to trim the lead, which was 92-73 after the first time out.

7:13: … And there’s the crowd! It came courtesy of Kobe, who exploded to the rim for a 2-handed dunk, capping an 8-0 run. That’s all it took for a dead arena to become fully engaged, and that’s no surprise, because Lakers fans have been schooled by decades and decades of good basketball, and know when to get going. With Dallas slowing their pace, trying to run clock and changing what had gotten them to this point, LAL got yet another stop, then a transition three from Devean George to close the margin to 92-82, capping a 15-0 run. Jack and the rest of the fans were on their feet. It was a 21-4 blitzkrieg to start the fourth, with Dallas getting only a pair of buckets from Steve Nash.

4:11: The next-biggest bucket came again from Kobe, who drilled a three from the top of the key to trim the margin to seven at 96-89. After a stop, Kobe did work yet again, getting all the way to the rim for a reverse layup through traffic to cut the margin to five.

3:08: Two shots of Mark revealed what was going on: 1) a giddy, jumping, laughing Mark Madsen on the Lakers bench; 2) A devastated Mark Cuban behind the Mavs bench. The run was 26-4 after Shaq scored at the rim, the 27-point lead down to just three.

2:38: Nash converted a terrific/difficult finger roll from the deep paint after going around Shaq and getting the ball over the help defense, only for Kobe to answer on the other end. Dallas had begun to hunt that switch of Shaq onto Nash in screen/roll situations, and it worked again as Nash drew his foul and hit two FT’s to make it 100-95 with two minutes to play. BTW, why did Dallas let Nash go, again?

1:50: Guess who answered for the Lakers? Kobe, again unstoppable as he drove to the rim right through Dirk.

1:28: Did I mention Brian Shaw’s penchant for hitting bit threes? There was never a doubt that he’d bury a game-tying triple with 1:28 left, after spotting up and gathering from Kobe, to whom the defense had adjusted. Mavs 100, Lakers 100.

1:04: Amidst “Kobe” cheers, Horry went to the FT line and split a pair, putting LAL in front. Phil put Shaq on the bench, so that Dallas couldn’t switch him onto Nash. But just as everything was coming up Lakers, former beloved Laker Van Exel rose up, fired and canned his fifth three, apparently oblivious to the crazy home crowd and momentum, making it 103-101 Dallas … at least until Shaw hit a two to tie it again moments later. L.A. then got a stop, setting up a chance for L.A. to take the lead.

0:08.4 : KOBE. Man. Who else but Bryant capped off the 2nd greatest 4th Q comeback in NBA history, with a beautiful spin move to his left after a hard drive to the right, capped by a hanging, leaning jumper … swish. No rim at all. Lakers 105, Dallas 103. Oh, what a play, and what a player.

0:00: Finley missed a potential game-winning three, sealing the remarkable comeback victory, L.A.’s 24th straight home win over the Mavericks. Kobe scored 21 points in the 4th Q … on 8 of 8 FG’s, and 4 of 4 FT’s, not to mention three assists and two rebounds. Kobe, Shaq (3 for 3), Shaw (3 for 3, two 3’s) and George (2 for 2) were a perfect 16 for 16, with Murray’s 0 for 2 the only misses. Just insane. But hey, they were the 3-time champions for a reason!

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Lakers Erase 27-point 4th Q Deficit vs. Dallas: Retro Running Diary

On the biggest basketball stage in the world, at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Feb. 2, 2009, Kobe Bryant’s star shone as brightly as any had before.

With myriad advanced moves, contested jumpers, explosive dunks, and-1’s and free throws, he set a scoring record* at the ‘Mecca of Basketball’ with an incandescent 61 points, as the Basketball Gods looked on, collectively applauding.*Later broken by Carmelo Anthony on Jan. 24, 2014 (62).

If that were the only story of the evening, it would have been enough to remember one of the great offensive assaults on a road NBA opponent. And yet, there was so much more that went into an evening that reset a tone that  L.A. would ultimately ride to the championship in June, if you'll allow a reflection back on what was going on with the team at that moment.

So, reflecting back on titles won years later, it’s easy to take them for granted … yup, the Lakers won back-to-back chips in 2009 and 2010 ... no problem! Right?

They did have the best team, the best player (Kobe), the best supporting star (Pau Gasol), the best sixth man (Lamar Odom) and the best coach (Phil Jackson) … at least in my opinion. But championships are so, so far from guaranteed.

I came to the Lakers in October of 2008, fresh of watching the difficult 2008 Finals loss to Boston, quite pumped that the team I was about to cover had the best chance at winning it all. One reason for that perception was that the Lakers were getting Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza back from injury: neither had played against the Celtics in the Finals, and they were sorely missed.

They were mad, and they were ready. Led by Kobe’s constantly-burning fire, they started the season 7-0. Then 14-1 … 21-3 … 27-5 … and by Jan. 31, they were an NBA-best 37-9*.*LeBron’s Cavs were 36-9.

But in that 37th victory, their big center, playing his best month of basketball in months, went down once again. Bynum had been hurt at Memphis when Kobe crashed into his leg, Andrew crumpling to the ground, and later learning that he’d torn the MCL in his right knee. Bynum was coming off his best month of the season, when he averaged 17.3 points on 58.9 percent shooting with 7.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 30 minutes per game. It was a huge blow mentally to Bynum and the Lakers, as he’d hurt his left knee the prior year, also in January, also against Memphis, which ended his season and kept him out of the playoffs entirely. There was immediate optimism that he’d be able to return for this postseason and that he wouldn’t need surgery, but there was no guarantee.

When I said it was a huge blow mentally, I should have clarified that Kobe can’t be included in that line of thinking.

Because in the next game, two nights later at MSG, he let his teammates, and his opponents, know that L.A.’s championship destiny would not be changed.

Starting for the Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe, Luke Walton, Odom and Gasol; New York: Chris Duhon, Quentin Richardson, David Lee, Al Harrington and Jared Jeffries.

FIRST QUARTER11:15: Kobe’s first field goal of the evening was a long pull-up two off the dribble that never had a chance of missing the net. On the next trip down, he pulled up for a wing three right in front of the Lakers bench. He was all business right away. Not a wasted glance. Not an inefficient movement.

9:49: Then on the next trip, Bryant buried another deep J in Richardson’s face, and LAL led 8-4. Meanwhile, the cameras cut over to a smiling Bynum on the bench, his grin almost saying, “Kobe’s got this,” not just talking about that night.

6:34: The Knicks didn’t have a good matchup for Kobe – not that many teams did – and he continued to simply rise right over the top of the sturdy Q-Rich. Kobe had 13 in the first six minutes of action on 5 of 7 FG’s, plus an assist to Pau, who was on his way to 12 1st Q points of his own.

2:50: Gasol’s and-1 assured that he and Kobe combined for 23 of LAL’s 24 points, as they led by 19, with NYK hanging in due to some decent bench play from Nate Robinson, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler. Mike D’Antoni was the new Knicks coach, and he had them playing small ball … and that didn’t work very well against Gasol, who was abusing Lee/Harrington/whoever inside.

0:35.4: Bryant drilled his second triple of the 1st Q to reach 18 points, putting LAL up 31-26. His glare was in full prominence, this time after Lee got switched out onto him, and he danced his way into an easy pull-up.

SECOND QUARTER10:13: Trevor Ariza had an emphatic transition dunk off Jordan Farmar’s dish back when Ariza was still coming off the bench, as either Walton (34 starts) or Vladimir Radmanovic (28) were often in there at SF. Farmar hit a pair of 3’s in the game, and Ariza was an impressive 6 for 9 towards 15 points, with the rest of bench going scoreless in limited minutes. But when Kobe returned at the 7:24 mark, LAL’s lead was down to one at 40-39.

7:05: I guess the rest didn’t cool Kobe off! He immediately drained a 3, then a 19-footer on the next trip down to make it 45-19, reaching 23 points. He had it all working so beautifully, and the Garden crowd – not to mention me up in press row – was fully enamored.

5:50: Here was the moment where the New York (and many Lakers fans, in fairness) rose in awe for the first time, when Kobe drilled another J, then dunked in transition on the next trip with two hands to get to 27 points on 10 for 14 FG’s, including four straight since returning to the game.

0:44.2: I’ve heard, and participated in, so many debates about the tough shots Kobe took, which on this night were going in, and how they measured up in the analytics area. One of the points I always tried to make is that Kobe was always about improving his skill set, and figuring out the shots he’d need to hit to win tough games in tough moments. And so, he’d miss a lot of contested shots in the regular season, but by the time the playoffs came around and those were the only shots available, nobody had more experience taking those kind of looks. There’s a reason that he’s a career 44.7 percent shooter in the regular season (and the post-Achilles tear numbers pulled that down) and a 44.8 percent shooter in the postseason. Most players see their FG percentage drop in the postseason, but not Kobe. The tough shot he made before halftime was an and-1 layup through Chandler and Harrington, which gave him 34 on 13 of 20 FG’s, 3 of 5 3’s and 5 of 5 FT’s, and LAL led 65-54 at the half. Bryant heard “vociferous” MVP chants (Walt Frazier’s word on the Knicks broadcast) during the and-1 FT.

THIRD QUARTER10:51 The Knicks came out of halftime focusing all their attention on Kobe, sending a second defender his way the moment he crossed the 3-point line, and LAL came out pretty flat when pushed out of what they’d been doing. The Knicks capitalized with a 7-0 run to trim the lead to four at 65-61, before Odom’s dunk off Pau’s dish stopped the bleeding. Kobe’s first FGA came at the 8:34 mark, when he pulled up in semi transition for a missed three before the double could come.

7:02: Kobe got cooking moments later, with a runner and a short J coming after he manipulated his way past the initial NYK defense. Then he found Pau when Lee left Gasol wide open to trap Kobe, Pau’s two FT’s making it 80-71, restoring the breathing room.

5:31: Kobe reached 40 points at the FT line after a beautiful pass from Luke came in a textbook triangle setting, when he popped to the elbow, then quickly found a cutting Kobe get to the rim. This was the 95th time in his career to that point that Bryant scored at least 40 … he would finish with 122, of course capped by the 60-point finale.

1:39: My goodness … Kobe’s 45th and 46th points came as he hung in the air for an extra beat through the paint after a great cut was rewarded by Pau with a pass.

1:22: Speaking of Pau … he put back a Farmar miss in transition with a dunk to continue his fantastic game. Kobe’s 61 definitely overshadowed a ridiculous game from Gasol, who’d finish with 31 points on 12 of 17 FG’s, 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 41 minutes, for a +20. Farmar would add a three in the final minute to put LAL up 96-86 heading into the fourth.

FOURTH QUARTER9:18: A powerful one-handed put-back slam from Ariza off a missed Vujacic jumper put LAL up 13, and showed Phil yet again that Trevor would be his best option as the starting SF moving forward, the only player on the roster who had both the overall athleticism and ability to hit shots at that position. He’d end up starting 20 regular season games, and all 23 postseason games.

7:31: Kobe immediately canned a jumper upon returning to the action. His 12 points in the third quarter were, believe it or not, his fewest in any quarter (18, 16, 12, 15).

6:05: The first time (Knicks PXP voice) Mike Breen mentioned Michael Jordan’s 55-point record at MSG (in the 45 jersey, in his 5th game back from retirement) came as Kobe hit the 50-point mark at the FT line, where he’d march nine straight times up until the 3:56 mark, passing his idol after getting Wilson Chandler to bite on a bunch of pump fakes. LAL were up 119-100.

3:24: Perhaps the signature highlight of Kobe’s offensive display came as he drove into the middle of the paint, and picked up his dribble, sending Chandler flying with a shot fake. Bryant executed a full pivot to his left, going 360 degrees, before rising for a short jumper. His footwork was like watching Picasso paint, Tiger drive, or Griffey, Jr. swing.

2:32: The MSG scoring record came at the FT line. He’d finish with the 61 point on an efficient 19 of 31 FG’s, 3 of 6 3’s and 20 of 20 FT’s. The New York crowd rose to its feet for a standing ovation that meant a lot to Kobe, and serenaded him with an “MVP” chant, that finally drew a smile for the first time from a previously-all-business Black Mamba. Do you remember who checked in to replace him? Yup … Sun Yue!!!

0:00: And so, the Lakers as a group came into that game uncertain about what would happen moving forward after watching Bynum go down in a heep.

But in 48 minutes of sheer brilliance, Kobe Bryant let them know they need not worry. He had it covered.

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Kobe's 61 at MSG: Lakers - Knicks Retro Running Diary

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 QUARTER10:34: 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 QUARTER7:47: 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 QUARTER8:19 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 QUARTER11:18: 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.

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Kobe Daggers Suns: Retro Running Diary, Game 6, 2010 WCF

Growing up in the 1980’s, there was no NBA team in town, so I rooted for Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. But then the NBA expanded prior to the 1989-90 season, and Minnesota was given the Timberwolves, whose first truly elite season didn’t come until many years later, 2003-04, my senior year in college, when Kevin Garnett finally got some help in the form of Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell.

Meanwhile, the Lakers had dominated my first three years of school, threepeating as Kobe and Shaq established themselves as the most dominant duo in NBA history – or at least the one that could win a good argument with Magic and Kareem, or Michael and Scottie.

Many were surprised that the Wolves (58-24) had earned the No. 1 seed in the West, besting the No. 2 Lakers (56-22) by two games. L.A. had handled Houston 4-1 in Round 1, before the Spurs took them to Game 6 in Round 2. The Wolves beat Denver 4-1, and then outlasted Sacramento in a tough 7-game series, their reward being the 3-time champion Lakers, who’d added Gary Payton and Karl Malone.

Starting for the Lakers: Payton, Kobe, Devean George, Malone and Shaq; Minnesota: Darrick Martin*, Latrell Sprewell, Trenton Hassell, Kevin Garnett and Michael Olowokandi.*Cassell had an injured hip, and was able to start only three of six games, missing the final two. Former Wolves coach Flip Saunders would later say that Cassell hurt the hip doing his onions celebration during the Kings’ series. Regardless, it was a big problem for Minny, with KG often having to play point guard.

FIRST QUARTER11:41: PXP legend Marv Albert, during the starting lineup rundown just before tip, mentioned that Kobe was “not a factor in the second half of Game 5” (Bryant finished with 23 points on 8 of 19 FG’s in LAL’s 98-96 loss). So, of course, Kobe opened Game 6 with ridiculous hammer dunk on Olowokandi.

8:55: Malone attacked the rim and scored with a pretty little baby hook over KG, then stripped KG on defense, starting a break that Kobe finished with an and-1 layup to put LAL up 7-4 early. Longtime Lakers folk will tell you that Malone’s injury was among the biggest factors in their losing to the Pistons in the Finals. Texted our Kevin Ding, who covered the series for the Orange County Register:

“Karl was a unifying, solidifying force on a team that wasn’t the strongest in chemistry at that point. But the Lakers also were too light on defensive activity and way light on triangle-offense execution then.”

Malone averaged 13.2 points on 48.3 percent FG’s with 8.7 boards, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals that season at age 40.

5:57: Olowokandi managed a big dunk with his left hand to a just-late arriving Shaq … who didn’t like that so much. You won’t be surprised to learn that Shaq immediately backed his fellow former No. 1 overall pick down and nearly dunked on him, drawing a PF. Later in the first, Shaq massacred Ervin Johnson with an and-1 dunk to put LAL up 20-13. The early problem for Minnesota: KG picked up 2 PF’s and had to sit. The MVP that season, they needed him on both ends more than any team needed any player.

1:42: Two-time Lakers champion Mark Madsen had checked in for the Wolves moments earlier, and the TNT cameras caught Kobe (likely) trash talking Mad Dog during some FT’s. Mad Dog was barking back!

0:28.0: Lakers sub Kareem Rush had also checked in moments earlier, canning his second triple in the final three minutes to help LAL to a 28-17 lead after one. The Wolves really had difficulty creating good shots without a point guard on the floor, and the Lakers buckled down defensively, with Kobe, George and Payton all very active on the perimeter, and Shaq holding down the rim. Bryant had 10 points to lead all scorers.

SECOND QUARTER9:44: Kobe was whistled for his 3rd PF really early in the 2nd Q, digging down to try and help on KG, and had to sit.

6:44: Payton’s 3 snapped an extended 15-5 Wolves run that had them within as few as three at 33-30 as they took advantage of Kobe’s absence and enjoyed KG’s return to the court, but the real highlight was seeing Flip run directly into Jack Nicholson, who was on the court protesting a call (or cheering … couldn’t really tell). Jack seemed to be enjoying watching Shaq toy with Wolves third-string center Oliver Miller.

1:16: The third Rush triple put LAL up 48-42, though Minnesota scored the final four points of the half on two Sprewell FT’s, plus a Hoiberg layup, trimming the margin to two. Meanwhile, Shaq picked up his fourth PF with 1:01 left in the quarter, which was a worry heading into the third quarter, especially on top of Kobe’s foul trouble.

THIRD QUARTER8:08: The Lakers, holding as much as a 15-point lead in the 1st Q, suddenly found themselves trailing by four at 56-52 after a dunk from KG off his own offensive board of a Sprewell missed three. Kobe and Shaq were a bit tentative due to their respective foul trouble, and Minnesota took advantage. The pressure was mounting a bit, with a potential Game 7 to be held back in Minnesota … but LAL had been through many situations like this in their run.

5:42: Kobe converted a beautiful hanging layup through traffic to tie it at 58, with three Wolves converging to no effect. For me, there’s never been a better tough-shot maker than Kobe in NBA history (with Jordan right there in the conversation). He could get to every single spot on the floor thanks to his superior footwork and handle, and score from every single angle once he got there.

2:28: Shortly after replacing George, also with foul trouble, Derek Fisher hit his only FG of the game, a three that cut Minnesota’s lead back to one at 64-63. Fish missed his other six shots that night, but managed six assists, four boards and a steal in his 26 bench minutes, and finished a team-best +11 on the evening. Fish would go on to have so many clutch games for LAL … my two favorites were both Finals games I was lucky to cover in person: 1) Game 4 at ORL in 2009, when he buried the triple with 4.6 seconds to play to force OT, then another with 31 seconds left in OT to put LAL up three; 2) Game 3 at BOS in 2010, when he scored 11 points on 5 of 7 FG’s in the 4th Q to lead LAL to a win that got them home-court advantage back after they’d lost Game 2 at home. That and-1 layup tho…

0:00.6: The Glove, who had an uneven year trying to fit into the triangle in his lone season in Los Angeles, beat the buzzer by putting back his own miss to get the Lakers within one after three. KG’s eight points, four boards and two blocks in the 3rd and a quiet Kobe (two points on 1 of 5 FG’s) helped Minnesota to a 22-19 edge.

FOURTH QUARTER9:16: Scoring was at a premium in this series. Only once in six games did either team hit the 100 mark, and that was LAL in a 100-89 Game 3 victory. But in this 4th Q, both Kobe and Rush would get going to give the home team the needed edge. Bryant’s drop-off assist to Malone, then strip of Sprewell and ensuing floater on the other end put LAL up 75-70. However, Shaq then picked up his 5th PF, and both Malone and Kobe got arguing techs at the 7:48 mark to help the Wolves get back within three.

6:51: Of course, Kobe responded with an aggressive drive to the rim for a layup off a crossover dribble and blow-by move on the perimeter. Less expected was yet another three from Rush, his 5th of the night, in as many attempts. Rush only hit 48 threes that season, on 34.8 percent, hitting 0.7 per game in the 72 in which he appeared. Six was an explosion in 2004, whereas now, it’s routine. For the game, MIN was 2 for 9, and LAL 9 for 21 from 3.

3:24: The Lakers had four Hall of Famers on their roster. And yet, in Minnesota, Game 6 is known as the Kareem Rush game. His sixth triple of the night put the Lakers up 89-79, the final dagger. The career night for the second-year player out of Missouri was more than the Wolves could handle.

0:11.7: The last three minutes were mostly composed of FT shooting for the Lakers, with Kobe’s last one making it 96-87. Hassell got a three to fall with 2.6 seconds left, and that was that. Minnesota’s best season ever ended, while the Lakers would go to yet another NBA Finals, a place they know better than anybody. LAL have been to the Finals 31 times, 10 more than Boston, and 20 more than the Philadelphia/San Francisco/Golden State Warriors. Of course, 2004 would not end up how LAL expected, with the Pistons defeating them in five games.

0:00: Shaq led the Lakers with 25 points and 11 boards despite hitting only 7 of 20 FT’s, and Kobe added 20 points with 4 assists – 3 in the 4th Q – and 2 steals. Malone had a 10-point, 10-board, 7-assist effort, while Rush’s six triples off the bench were massive. KG went for 22 points and 17 boards, and Sprewell 27 points with five assists. The NBA’s greatest coach, Phil Jackson, with nine titles already, would have to wait a few years for his 10th and 11th.

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Lakers-Wolves, 2004 WCF Game 6: Retro Running Diary

David Stern famously said the NBA’s ideal Finals matchup was “Lakers vs. Lakers,” but in 1991, he was pretty, pretty happy with how things turned out: Lakers vs. Bulls … and, really … Magic vs. Michael.

Magic was already, well, Magic. He’d driven the “Showtime” Ferrari to a ridiculous five titles since earning Finals MVP as a rookie in 1980, and was about to start his ninth Finals series in 12 seasons. A true living legend, Magic – with a little help from Larry Bird – had already no-look-passed the NBA to new heights. Meanwhile, Jordan’s legend was growing fast as he prepared to take the League to an even greater zenith. There was nobody more imposing with his combination of physical and mental gifts, nobody cooler. But he’d yet to play in a Finals game, and there was skepticism about if he and the Bulls could really take down Magic, fellow 1988 Finals MVP Big Game James and the Lakers. The two stars had split the last four MVP’s, MJ in 1988 and 91, and Magic the two in between, their showdown fully primed.

“This is a dream come true to play Michael in the Finals,” said Magic. “It’s something I think we’ve both been looking forward to. When you’re a competitor, you want to play against the best. I played against Larry, and I’ve always wanted to play against Michael.”

On the NBC pregame show, Bob Costas’ partner was none other than Lakers legend Pat Riley, just before he was took over the Knicks. Riles summarized the NBA Finals like this: “You cannot feel good enough just by being here,” he told viewers. “It comes down to one thing: winning, or misery.”

With a new coach, Mike Dunleavy, and new starter Sam Perkins to play alongside Magic, Worthy, Byron Scott and second-year center Vlade Divac, the Lakers went 58-24 before sweeping Houston in Round 1, handling Golden State 4-1 in Round 2 and taking care of Portland (who’d finished with the NBA’s best record of 63-19) 4-2 in the WCF.

Meanwhile, Phil Jackson was in his 2nd season coaching the Bulls, and led them to an Eastern Conference-best 61-21 record. They sailed to the Finals, sweeping the Knicks, beating Philly 4-1 and demolishing the Jordan-Rules Pistons 4-0 in the ECF. Jordan’s 31.5 ppg on 53.9% FG’s with 5.5 dimes and 2.7 steals were complemented by ultimate wing man Scottie Pippen, with Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright and John Paxson rounding out the starting five.

OK … let’s send it to Marv Albert and the Czar of the Telestrator, Mike Fratello:

FIRST QUARTER9:43: Watching a game from the early 1990’s looks very little like watching an NBA game today, mostly due to the massive difference in 3-point shooting. The game began with Worthy, Divac and Perkins all scoring in Chicago’s paint, and Cartwright scoring inside before Jordan hit the game’s first perimeter shot, a long two: “Both teams will try to establish an inside game right away, the coaches told us yesterday,” said Fratello.

7:00: Jordan took the assignment of defending Magic from the opening tip. Magic mostly back-dribbled his way from half court to the 3-point line, where he’d initiate the offense with a pass to either wing, trying to get his teammates going, especially Worthy, who along with Perkins was hitting early to put LAL up 10-5 before MJ’s first dunk.

5:38: Big Game James drilled his fourth FG in the opening minutes, a pretty baseline jump hook, to put LAL up 16-10. There was a lot of discussion pregame about Worthy’s balky ankle, with Dunleavy suggesting he was around 70 percent at that time ... and it would get worse as Game 1 went on. Riley also pointed out that Pippen had given Worthy some issues in the regular season due to his rare combo of quickness and length, but Worthy had the early advantage.

Side note: Mychal Thompson has – for years – argued with us on Lakers planes and busses that Worthy’s ankle was (spoiler alert!) the main issue in the series. He still hasn’t come off that argument, and just texted me: “That’s THE reason we lost.” I countered: “It wasn’t … Jordan?” Stay tuned for his response.

2:00: The Bulls were a little nervy early in their first Finals game … with the exception of Jordan. His ferocious dunk was his third already, and he had 11 points with three assists to account for 17 of CHI’s first 20 points as they trailed by one.

1:10: Magic’s first points came at the FT line, after he drew a foul on MJ. Magic was terrific at getting to the line throughout that postseason, averaging a playoff-career-high 9.4 attempts, and hitting 8.3 of them (88.2%), towards his 21.8 ppg with 12.6 assists, 8.1 boards and 1.2 steals. Not bad!

0:06.7: Perkins drilled his second 3-pointer of the quarter, which basically shocked Marv and Fratello. Threes were mostly a novelty, but Perkins could certainly let it fly, a stretch 4/5 before they were cool.

0:00: Jordan found Grant alone at the rim for a quarter-ending layup that gave Chicago a 30-29 lead, thanks mostly to his 15 points on 7 of 10 FG’s plus 5 assists. LAL played the better team game, spreading their scoring around, but they’d yet to find an answer for MJ.

SECOND QUARTER9:15: LAL sub Terry Teagle scored early in the 2nd Q amidst an 8-2 LAL run that put them up 37-32, reminding me of why the Lakers would eventually lose the series … Dunleavy wasn’t playing Mychal Thompson! “Yeah,” texted Mychal. “Nothin but DNPCDs for ME. Dunleavy…” The new coach played a short rotation that in fairness isn’t uncommon in the Finals, with four starters getting at least 40 minutes and Scott 37. Teagle played 10 minutes, A.C. Green 16 and Larry Drew 5, for a total of five bench points. Meanwhile, Worthy was still dealing, up to 14 points.

7:10: A graphic showed the all-time playoff scorers at that point, of course dominated by Lakers and Celtics: 1) Kareem (5,762 points); 2) West (4,457); 3) Havlicek (3,776); 4) Bird (3,681); 5) Elgin (3,623); 6) Wilt (3,607) and 7) Magic (3,547).

Today’s list includes a few more Lakers, starting with a current one: 1) LeBron (6,911); 2) Jordan (5,987); 3) Kareem; 4) Kobe (5,640); 5) Shaq (5,250); 6) Duncan (5,172) and 7) Karl Malone (4,761).

4:30: Pippen had an excellent stretch alongside four bench players, spurring an 8-0 run that erased a 7-point Lakers lead while Jordan got his first rest. Magic returned with Jordan, and promptly helped the Lakers stop the run by drawing another foul by driving into Will Perdue. Terrific energy from both teams.

2:15: Dunleavy started to send more bodies at Mike after his ridiculous first quarter, with three Lakers converging on Jordan’s drive late in the 2nd Q, and Scott getting a steal that ultimately got Perkins two FT’s on the other end to make it a 47-all tie. UNC’s 1982 championship squad was QUITE prominent here, with Jordan (a freshman), Perkins (sophomore) and Worthy (junior) all repping Carolina blue.

0:17.9: Magic “did not give Jordan a chance to body up on him, or to double … as soon as he caught the basketball, he turned and went,” said Fratello, as Magic got back to the FT line. In Game 1, Magic showed a great mix of attacking to get to the line, and passing out to the perfect spot when doubles came. I wonder how much LeBron has watched Magic at this stage of his career ... LeBron post ups have been the most effective play for any NBA team this season, and they look pretty similar to some of these possessions for Magic, who’d finish with 11 assists and 10 FTA’s.

0:00: LAL went into halftime trailing by just two despite shooting 44 percent, compared to a scorching 61 percent for CHI. L.A. did hold Jordan to only three points in the 2nd Q after his 15 in the first, though he was up to eight assists. Going into halftime, NBC had a graphic comparing Jordan to Magic, and of course the difference was five championships to zero. Marv said Jordan would “like to put a dent into that.”

THIRD QUARTER9:00:  Magic’s seventh assist came off his graceful-yet-powerful transition push you watched so many times throughout the 1980’s, with the 22-year-old Yugoslavian* showcasing his terrific hands with the catch and layup. Vlade was so skilled, and often relieved pressure from the high-pressure Chicago defense, while also managing to score 16 points with 14 boards, 3 steals and 3 blocks in 44 minutes. His two FT’s moments after the layup tied the game at 59.*Yugoslavia was in turmoil at the time of the Finals, and the republic would devolve into war in 1992, splitting into five different countries, including Divac’s native Serbia.

6:10: Magic’s first FG of the game kept LAL within one, as he buried a running 1-handed floater to beat the shot clock. The Lakers were content to slow the pace as much as possible, methodically waiting until late in the shot clock, and never panicking. All five starters were capable of creating their own shot.

2:01: Simple, effective, smart basketball – Magic calmly backed his way into the edge of the paint, waited for Worthy’s man (Grant, on that possession) to dig down, and fed Big Game for a pull-up J. Worthy, by the way, was not moving great on that sore ankle, but he hit another shot from the same spot on the next trip to answer Pippen’s hoop and put LAL back on top, 69-68.

0.00.6: MAGIC! How about back-to-back 3’s in the final minute of the third, including one just ahead of the buzzer, to shush a formerly raucous Chicago Stadium crowd and give LAL their first semblance of breathing room in the form of a 75-68 lead.  The Bulls didn’t bother to contest either attempt, one in semi-transition, the other in Jordan’s face. Magic, a career 30.3% 3-point shooter, hit 32.0% that regular season (3.2 attempts) and 29.6% in 19 playoff games, though he did make 21 triples in the postseason, doubling his previous high of 10 in 1988-89.

“Michael won the early rounds, but you sense there is Magic in the air!” exclaimed Marv heading into the fourth. Mammoth shots from Magic.

FOURTH QUARTER9:30: Uh … get Magic back in there! Dunleavy tried to get Magic a few minutes of rest, and Chicago took advantage with a 6-0 run, getting to within one and forcing a time out. Magic returned, but Jordan scored four quick points to put the Bulls up 78-75, completing a 10-0 run. Many teams would have crumbled under those circumstances, but not Magic’s Lakers. He got back to the FT line and hit 1 of 2 before finding Divac for a layup to tie the game at 78. Meanwhile: Pippen’s fifth foul had him on Phil’s bench.

6:53: There’s Magic, again. Just doing everything. A layup through two Bulls bigs at the rim put LAL up 80-78. He quelled the big Chicago run almost singlehandedly, and had reached a triple-double (17, 10 and 10 at that point). He didn’t win five rings by accident!

4:33: Magic drew Mike’s fifth foul and hit two more FT’s to make it 94-90, LAL. Jordan had just canned a jumper that was answered by Worthy’s layup, but Big Game was limping even more noticeably at this point. He was struggling to move defensively, and Jordan added an assist for Grant’s dunk, then an and-1 hanging J to put the Bulls back on top.

3:30: Chicago had begun to aggressively trap Magic the second he crossed half court. LAL just stayed disciplined, eventually working the ball back to Johnson later in the clock. Divac hit a pair of FT’s as a result of the Bulls trap to put LAL up one. The FT line was a massive factor in this one, LAL hitting 28 of 34 attempts to CHI’s 14 of 18, making up for the discrepancy in FGM’s (38 for CHI, 30 for LAL).