By Paul Levine Apr 27, 2006, 8:18 GMT
Los Angeles - This time Kobe Bryant made the big shots at the end of the game.
Bryant collected 29 points and 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers shaded the Phoenix Suns 99-93 on Wednesday night in Game Two to knot the opening round of their Western Conference best-of-seven playoff series.
In the opener, Bryant, who averaged a league-best 35.4 points, played within the team concept. He scored 21 points but missed key shots down the stretch as the Lakers fell 107-102. Again he shared the ball but was able to make those shots.
'In Game One, we did OK, I just didn't make shots I normally make,' Bryant said. 'Tonight, I felt more comfortable. We did a much better job. Everybody contributed and I was able to make a couple shots as well.'
Lamar Odom scored 21 points and made key hustle plays down the stretch for the Lakers, who grabbed the home-court advantage as the series shifts to Los Angeles for Games Three and Four Friday and Sunday.
The Lakers were able to stop the Suns' potent running game, and used a 19-0 run en route to 53-38 halftime cushion. But Steve Nash, rumoured to have repeated as the league's Most Valuable Player, rallied the Suns to within 90-83. But Odom dove for a loose ball and zipped a pass to Bryant who soared over Nash for a flying dunk with 3:13 remaining.
Raja Bell scored six straight points to close the gap to 92-89 with 1:51 left. When Bell missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer, Odom grabbed a loose ball and fed Smush Parker for a layup to make it 94-89 with 49 ticks to go.
After Luke Walton sank two free throws, Bryant added three more in the final 27 seconds to seal the victory.
'There were some dramatic plays down the stretch, and I thought our composure was not what I like,' Lakers coach Phil Jackson explained. 'But we were able to sustain the effort and get a couple of terrific plays - one from Smush and one from Kobe.'
Nash led Phoenix with 29 points along with nine assists, while Bell finished with 23 points.
'They're playing us tough but we've struggled to get ourselves going,' Nash said. 'I think we have a little bit of playoff anxiety because we're not playing the way we know how to play.
'It's frustrating. We really need to get back to being ourselves. We can't give yourselves a 15-point hole to fight out of and expect to win too many of those in the playoffs.'
Elsewhere: Dallas Mavericks 94, Memphis Grizzlies 79: German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points for the second straight game, and the Mavericks kept the Grizzlies winless in post-season play, to grab a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference opening round series.
'Obviously it's better than being down 0-2 like we were last year,' Nowitzki said. 'We came back to win the series and anything is possible. So, we expect them to come out swinging, especially at home. We just have to be ready.'
Spaniard Pau Gasol scored 16 points but just six after the opening quarter for Memphis, which hosts Games Three and Four Saturday and Monday, looking to break an 0-10 all-time mark in the playoffs.
'Everybody keeps emphasizing that fact that we never won a playoff game,' Gasol said. 'We'd like to get that monkey off our backs because it is really getting heavy right now.'
With Nowitzki on the bench with foul trouble the Mavericks trailed 36-32. He returned with two minutes gone in the second quarter to score nine straight points in just over a two-minute span to put them ahead for good.
The Grizzlies began to unravel. They managed just 12 points for the period and committed 10 costly turnovers - seven in the final minutes - to fall behind 57-43 at the break.
'In the second quarter we got lost for a few minutes and it cost us,' Gasol said. 'It was frustrating the way we were turning over the ball. It was an intense game at the beginning, but we gave it to them without making them work for it.'
The Grizzlies went scoreless on 16 consecutive possessions for nearly 11 minutes bridging the second and third quarters before a dunk by Lorenzen Wright with 7:31 ended the drought.
Memphis trailed 76-56 after three quarters and never threatened.
Detroit Pistons 109, Milwaukee Bucks 98: Tayshaun Prince scored 22 points and Chauncey Billups had 20 as the Pistons bounced the Bucks for a 2-0 advantage in their first- round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Detroit's Richard Hamilton added 18 points and eight assists after leaving Game One with a sprained left ankle.
Michael Redd had 29 points for Milwaukee, which hosts the next two games on Saturday and Monday.
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