"I know I can make that push and I knew once I did, I could get the game back under control, get it under 10 where we knew we could be in striking distance. In the first half, we were a little rusty, a little sluggish and a little tentative. Second half, it wasn't there. It is big for a young team to come back from 20 against the defending champs."
That is exactly what happened. Kobe Bryant led his young team back from a 20-point deficit to victory Wednesday night.
If you didn't watch the game, you are probably assuming that Bryant was a scoring machine the whole game; he wasn't.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich observed Bryant:
"Kobe, he was doing a trust-his-teammates thing in the first half. That's why he had five assists, and he was checking it all out and see where his territory was going to be. In the second half, he went to work."
And went to work he did. Bryant scored 25 points in the second half after only scoring two in the first two quarters.
Bryant finished the night with nine assists, going 1-3 from the field in the first half, and 10-18 in the second.
This series is far from over, however. Los Angeles has many things to worry about, not the least of whom is Tim Duncan.
Pau Gasol was absolutely overmatched against the former number one overall pick. Los Angeles stuck to their usual plan of not double-teaming Duncan until the fourth quarter.
Until then, he dominated everywhere.
Gasol would have loved to hand his defensive assignment over to the injured Andrew Bynum.
Gasol isn't a big boy by any means, but he has extremely long arms. He hoped that he could, at the very least, distract Duncan.
"He was consistent during the game and he was able to feel a little too comfortable, I think," Gasol said. "Hopefully next time I will give him a little more trouble, make him put the ball on the floor a little more. Don't let him take that easy jumper."
The Duncan assignment will be Gasol's duty again next time, because Bynum won't return to the Lakers until training camp.
Some media outlets are blaming the Spurs collapse on "weak legs". Give me a break. It may have contributed, but these players have played back-to-back-to-back games many times during the regular season.
Their legs didn't just give out in the playoffs.
The Spurs will look to rebound in the next game, which will be held on Friday night at 9 pm EST.
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