Kobe Bryant The Doberman, the defensive stopper from Beijing, was let off the leash again for one night.
He shadowed Dwyane Wade all over the court, denied him the ball and took him out of the game at key moments, all while leaving his team’s scoring to others.
It worked. Wade shot just 1 of 10 in the second half when Kobe was on him and was virtually a non-factor on the Heat’s last few possessions, Andrew Bynum led the Lakers with 24 points including what was essentially winning tip in with 18.5 seconds left and Los Angeles picked up another close win at Staples, 108-105.
Fans got the show they wanted as Bryant and Wade were in each other’s face all night, something they did in practice last summer for Team USA.
“He picked up a couple things, defensively as well he picked up a couple techniques that we kind of joked about (during the game),” Kobe said about he and Wade.
Wade was 1 of 6 with Kobe on him in the third, but he started the fourth 3-3 (with a foul) as Trevor Ariza could not stop the league’s leading scorer. With Kobe back in the game he was 0-4 in the clutch.
But while that was the show, the game was won in the frontcourt. The Heat, who have no starter taller than 6-9, had no answer for Andrew Bynum. He had 14 first half points on 5 of 5 shooting and carried that over to the second half when he had key baskets including the tip in. Josh Powell came off the bench and filled that same role with 8 points. Pau Gasol got his chances, but had the rare off night and was just 1 of 8 from the floor (with that one make being an uncontested lay-up on an offensive rebound) in the first half. Still Gasol finished with 18 rebounds and found a way to 14 points.
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Wade finished the game with 27 points on 10 of 22 shooting to lead the Heat. Rookie Michael Beasley looked like a rookie who is quickly figuring out how to play at the NBA level scoring 23 off the bench.
While the Lakers starters completely outplayed the Heat, the bench — or what is left of it — almost cost them the game. Every Lakers starter was in the positive in plus/minus stats, but the three bench guys were -8 (Ariza) and -20 (Powell and Sasha Vujacic).
The good news about the Lakers depth was Phil Jackson reporting the Lamar Odom was doing much better today. While Odom was not in uniform it is possible he will play on the tough road back-to-back in Houston and San Antonio this Tuesday and Wednesday.
