Kobe saves day for Lakers

LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant not only saved a game, he may have salvaged a season.

Converting a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds to play in regulation to force overtime, Bryant kept the Los Angeles Lakers afloat in what turned into a 99-91 victory Tuesday night over the Detroit Pistons that evened the NBA Finals at 1-1.

“It’s all about the challenge,” Bryant said. “We’re playing for the highest stakes. You’ve got to rise to that.”

While not quite as dramatic as the buzzer-beating basket by guard Derek Fisher that allowed the Lakers to survive their second-round series against San Antonio, Bryant’s basket gave hope that there might yet be a happy ending for the Kobe-Shaq-Karl-Gary-Phil band of renown.

“Kobe made a great shot,” Pistons coach Larry Brown said. “We defended it. We switched. A great player made a great shot.”

Until Bryant scored over the outstretched arms of Pistons guard Richard Hamilton, Staples Center had been overtaken by a sinking feeling, with those in attendance aware that a team had never overcome an 0-2 home start in the previous 20 NBA Finals played on a 2-3-2 basis.

“That’s basically what we tried to accomplish,” coach Phil Jackson said of the call that led to Bryant’s shot.

By contrast, Brown said he never considered fouling before the shot, thereby allowing only two free throws. He was concerned his team would instead be called for a three-shot foul, which would have been the case if Bryant already was in his shooting motion.

“We don’t foul on a situation like that,” he said of his blanket policy.

Up 11 in the third quarter, the Lakers had to battle back from a six-point deficit with 47.8 seconds left in regulation, after point guard Chauncey Billups and forward Rasheed Wallace sparked Detroit. The task did not become any easier when Shaquille O’Neal was called for a fifth foul midway through the final period.

“Give them credit,” Brown said, “they made huge plays. And then it got into overtime and we kind of lost our poise.”

Billups led the Pistons with 27 points and Hamilton added 26. No other Piston scored more than 12.

“We’re crushed,” Brown said. “We had a winnable game.”

Behind Bryant – who has overcome numerous obstacles this season, from his court case in Colorado to bickering with teammates – the Lakers made it all the way back, now with a swagger of a team in command instead of one facing the reality that it has surrendered homecourt advantage.

“This is what we do for a living,” Bryant said of such challenges.

Bryant closed with 33 points, supported by 29 from O’Neal.

“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Bryant said.

With forward Karl Malone ailing and guard Gary Payton essentially absent, the Lakers returned to the formula that produced three consecutive titles before last year’s Finals hiatus.

O’Neal provided the muscle, following up his 34 points in Sunday’s 87-75 Game 1 loss with another solid showing.

Bryant provided the athleticism, reining in his wayward 10-of-27 Game 1 shooting with an efficient overall display on a 14-of-27 night.

Unlike in Game 1, when there was no support and only four points off the Lakers bench, this time there was a welcomed energetic boost from rookie forward Luke Walton.

The son of Hall of Fame center Bill Walton fueled the Lakers’ early confidence with five points, four assists and three rebounds in nine second-quarter minutes. He closed with seven points, eight assists and five rebounds.

“I just needed somebody in there who could move the ball,” Jackson said.

With Malone still hobbled by the knee pain that kept him out for half the season and Payton a non-factor for a second consecutive game, Walton’s boost was essential.

Malone twice had to leave the court in the first half because of his balky right knee, but still was able to surpass his four-point effort in Game 1, with nine points and nine rebounds in 39 minutes.

Payton, more punk that playmaker in his transition to the Lakers this season, closed with two points, after scoring three in Game 1, again badly outplayed by Billups.

As in Game 1, which produced a 41-40 Lakers halftime lead, Game 2 got off to another sluggish start with L.A. up 18-16 after the first quarter. self end