Lakers laugh last
LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers waited until the third quarter to get going. Once they did, the San Antonio Spurs couldn’t stop them.
Bryant scored all but two of his 27 points after halftime, including a go-ahead, 10-foot jumper in the lane with 23.9 seconds remaining, and the Lakers rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Spurs 89-85 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Game 2 will be played Friday night before the best-of-7 series shifts to San Antonio for the third and fourth games. The Lakers are 7-0 in the postseason at Staples Center, where they’ve won 13 straight games overall.
Bryant’s jumper put the Lakers ahead for good after two free throws by Manu Ginobili with 1:22 remaining and a follow shot by Tim Duncan with 41 seconds left tied the game at 85. After Bryant’s winner, Ginobili missed a 3-pointer and Sasha Vujacic made two free throws with 7.3 seconds to go, completing the scoring.
The Lakers outscored the Spurs 24-13 in the fourth quarter, when San Antonio shot 3 for 21, including 1 for 9 from 3-point range.
“We almost gave up home-court advantage to a great effort by the Spurs,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “That was a big comeback. We were deep in the hole, there was no doubt about it. Twenty down and half the quarter gone in the third period. It was a struggle to fight back into the ballgame by the end of the third quarter.”
Bryant also had five rebounds and nine assists. Pau Gasol had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 10 points apiece for the Lakers.
Duncan led the Spurs with 30 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots. Tony Parker added 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists; Bruce Bowen scored 12 points, and Ginobili added 10 for the Spurs.
Ginobili shot just 3 for 13, and Jackson credited Vujacic for his defensive work on the Spurs’ star.
“Sasha had an assignment out there tonight and he played Ginobili very well,” Jackson said. “Offensively, Sasha had a lot better games, but defensively, that was one of his best.”
Vujacic played a career playoff-high 311/2 minutes.
“Obviously a difficult loss and we had a great opportunity,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We didn’t take advantage of it. Hurts like hell.”
The well-rested Lakers hadn’t played since Friday, when they beat Utah to advance to the conference finals for the first time in four years.
The Spurs advanced by winning at New Orleans three nights later, but their flight to Los Angeles was delayed several hours and they didn’t arrive at their hotel in suburban Santa Monica until Tuesday morning around 9 a.m.
Popovich, however, said that had nothing to do with his team’s difficulties late in the game.
Notes
Center Andrew Bynum underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in New York, and the Lakers said they expect him to make a full recovery by the start of training camp next fall. Bynum, who was averaging 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, hasn’t played since Jan. 13. … The Lakers are 52-7 when winning Game 1 in a best-of-7 series. … The Lakers have beaten the Spurs in seven of their previous 10 postseason matchups, including all three in the conference finals.