Kobe Comes Up Big In Game Five, But The Celtics Still Win

At the very end of my article after game four, I noted that Kobe Bryant had yet to have a great, dominant game.

I wrote:

To me, the big question is going to be about Kobe Bryant. When are we getting his best game? He's the best player in the series, yet I'm not so sure he's been the story of any game yet. I have a feeling he's going to become the story soon.

Well, he sure was the story of game five.

Bryant had a terrific scoring night and if degree of difficulty was involved, he'd have scored all 10s, even from the Russian judge. He scored 38 points while playing over 43 minutes and had that look in his eyes that you hadn't seen yet in the series.

But it was a one-man show. Only Pau Gasol scored in double figures alongside Bryant and no one other than Bryant had more than two assists. You could say that it was because he was the one taking all the shots, but he didn't really turn it up until the third quarter.

He was much more animated near the end of the game than he'd been in the other two loses and it looked like his disappointment had more to do with his team not being able to stop Boston defensively than anything else.

Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski started his column on Bryant with this paragraph:

On his way into the losing locker room, the most angry man in the Garden was heard to bellow a spontaneous stream of curses into the ears of his Los Angeles Lakers. As the door slammed behind them, a witness heard Kobe Bryant screaming that he needed some-bleeping-one to make a stand with him.

At the press conference, Kobe was much more calm and matter of fact. But based on his answer about what he'd tell his guys to be ready for game six, he still seethed.

“Just man up and play. What’s the big deal? If I have to say something to them, then we don’t deserve to be champions.”

It was an interesting bit of truth about how he felt about his team facing elimination. He could've given the normal cliched line, but he didn't. But it also wasn't a challenge. It was as if he wanted them to know that he was bringing his A game no matter what, and it was up to them to bring theirs. It wasn't up to him.

It was sort of anti-leader. Rather than say that he was going to carry his troops on his back if need be, he said that he wasn't going to say anything because if he had to, it meant they weren't champions anyway. At least that's how I interpreted it.

On the flipside, you had the Celtics with their fearsome foursome all scoring at least twelve points. After game two, it looked like Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen were the guys carrying the team, but now, after game five, it's back to Paul Piece and Kevin Garnett. Together, they had 45 points and played big in the end.

Can Kobe save the series for the Lakers? I wouldn't bet against him. But it very much seems he's not confident in his guys and after game five, he probably has a good reason not to be.

What game five showed is that Kobe can play at a tremendous level and still lose. If the Celtics get to play five on one in game six, you have to like their chances.