MVP for a reason
Kobe Bryant was Kobe Bryant tonight. It really can’t be said any more clearly than that.
Bryant had 36 points on 12 of 20 shooting. He got to the line 18 times. He was, simply, the MVP.
“I think undoubtedly it’s the leadership of Kobe Bryant out there that won the game],” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. “He was aggressive right from the start. You know, put, I think, the defense on their heels — obviously they caught up and went by us, but we stayed aggressive out there and Kobe was very instrumental in that.”
For his part, Bryant said he just took what the defense gave him.
“I just went, took it to them,” he said. “I just went and just had the confidence that once I get in there I’ll be able to make the right play and hopefully some of the whistles will go our way a little bit tonight, get to the free-throw line. If they collapse, I’ll hit my shooters. They did a great job in Boston of just zoning and not having to help too much. That’s something I wanted to put their defense in jeopardy a little bit more than we did in Boston.”
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