Kobe’s 51 Make It Best of Seven

DENVER -- Kobe Bryant did not wonder if the game is finding him, or if he is finding it. Those are only details now.

Fifty-one points later, and at the end of seven games the NBA hasn’t seen since Michael Jordan, 40 this Monday, was 25, Bryant rolled up a purple collar around his ears, pulled up a chair at the end of the bench, and let his head fall forward.

Not yet a playoff team, but closing in, the Lakers won their seventh consecutive game Wednesday night. They beat the Denver Nuggets, 113-102, at Pepsi Center, a solemn place first because the Nuggets hardly ever win, and then because of what Bryant did to the Nuggets. Again.

Not 24 hours after he hit the Nuggets for 42 points in Los Angeles, he got them for 51 more and did not play the fourth quarter. Rookie Coach Jeff Bzdelik sent the bigger, stronger Donnel Harvey at Bryant, and Harvey accidentally hit Bryant in the mouth not a minute into the game, and then Bryant swung back for the next two hours.

“It let me know they were going to do whatever it took to stop me,� Bryant said. “I said, ‘I’m going to do whatever it takes to beat you.’ �

He scored on the Lakers’ first three possessions, scored their first nine points and had 20 by the end of the first quarter, on 10 field-goal attempts and 10 free-throw attempts. He scored 16 points in the second quarter and, with 50 beckoning for the third time in his career, scored 15 on 11 sometimes ragged shots in the third.

“It wasn’t like I was angry,� Bryant said, though he did not appear to accept Harvey’s on-floor apology. “It sharpened my focus. It made me pay attention to details more. That’s what that hit did. I don’t think it’s best to play angry. I played angry once. That was [against] Memphis. I had 56 that game. But I don’t like playing angry because normally it takes you out of your rhythm.�

He shot long, squared-shoulder jumpers and he scored on signature fadeaways. And he went hard to the basket, shot 20 free throws a night after he shot 21, apparently unconcerned with the sore jaw he rubbed occasionally the rest of the game. His points were his season high, five fewer than his career high set, as he mentioned, against the Grizzlies last year.

Bzdelik’s defensive adjustment did not last three minutes; Harvey drew two fouls. So out went Vincent Yarbrough and Ryan Bowen and Junior Harrington and whoever else traipsed into Bryant’s sights, and Bryant sent them each back with an eight-by-10 glossy and a Sharpie. Bzdelik had pleaded with his players on their way out of Los Angeles, “If you want autographs, get them before the game,� and they looked afraid again.

Bryant really wants this to be about the Lakers. And it might be eventually. He scored at least 35 for the seventh consecutive game, the first to score as much as often since Jordan was in a similar zone over two weeks in the winter of ’88. And the Lakers have gone from 19-23 to 26-23, from check-their-pulses to a half-game out of the Western Conference’s eighth playoff position, and the emphasis is Bryant.

He has averaged 42 points in those seven games, shooting 51.3%. He has averaged 14.1 free throws and less than a turnover per game and he has been so much better than anyone else on the floor it hardly looks like the NBA around him anymore.

When he sat down for good late in the third quarter, the Lakers led by 31. The second unit did its usual number on the final score, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter, and Phil Jackson was miffed about it. But, near as anyone could tell, Bryant will show up to play San Antonio on Friday, and then whatever follows, so the state of the Laker bench was a secondary topic.

“I’m having a lot of fun,� Bryant said. “It’s really enjoyable, especially how we’re feeding off me as a team. Everybody’s kind of using my energy and we’re using it to play well. That makes the game fun.�

Even Shaquille O’Neal, who once might have taken offense to all of the shots going to Bryant and the attention that follows them, was pleasant and approving. He is not quite healthy, and therefore not as able to push possessions as Bryant.

“When you have a great one-two punch, and one is going like that, the other falls back,� O’Neal said. “I don’t mind falling back. Kobe and I have a lot of discussions. People talk about who’s carrying the team. We don’t care. While he’s doing that, I’m resting and getting better and stronger. I’ll be all right for the playoffs, and you know how I am in the playoffs.�

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The Fuel That Feeds

*--* the Lakers’ Fire The Lakers’ seven-game winning streak has coincided with Kobe Bryant’s remarkable run. A look at Bryant’s averages over the seven games, compared to those in the first half of the season: First 42 Last 7 41.7 Minutes 39.7 22.2 Field-goal attempts 27.0 9.9 Field goals 13.9 445 Field-goal percentage 513 3.2 Three-point attempts 4.3 1.1 Three-pointers made 2.0 351 Three-point shooting percentage 467 27.2 Points per game 42.0 19-23 Team record 7-0

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Season’s Best

The top one-game scoring performances in the NBA this season:

*--* Player Pts Date Opp Kobe Bryant 51 Feb. 12 Denver Tracy McGrady 47 Nov. 2 Milwaukee Kobe Bryant 46 Feb. 6 New York Paul Pierce 46 Nov. 2 New York Kobe Bryant 46 Nov. 17 Houston Tracy McGrady 46 Dec. 25 Detroit Ricky Davis 45 Dec. 9 Milwaukee Paul Pierce 45 Jan. 24 Denver Kobe Bryant 45 Jan. 7 Seattle Kobe Bryant 45 Nov. 15 Golden State Kobe Bryant 45 Nov. 29 Memphis

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