Call it the perennial chip on Bryant's shoulders or renewed knees that are fresh from European doctors, but the Lakers star looks to be in MVP shape after another dominant showing.
The Lakers were looking for their first road win and were facing a team that owns their crib. The Utah Jazz have shown a much different form since the Lakers saw them at Staples Center on December 27th.
The Jazz were 6-2 since that time, but you can now add another loss to their record as the Lakers took a close one in overtime, 90-87.
This was the season that the media decided Kobe Bryant was washed up. ESPN, in their infinite wisdom, declared that Bryant was the seventh-best player in the league.
We can safely assume that the Black Mamba has taken some form of inspiration from the sudden lack of respect from those who once lauded him. Well, it's time to get back on the Mamba bandwagon.
The clock's winding down, a final scramble and we didn't know what was going on," Hayward said. "There were 8 seconds left, so I got to make a play. Maybe I could have shot a 1-2 pullup, but I thought it was the right play, the right pass. We got a good look. Bynum just made a good play."
Bryant would block a long 3-point attempt by Devin Harris as the Jazz inbounded with 0.7 seconds remaining in OT.
The win was the first on the road for the Lakers (8-4), while Utah (6-4) is 5-1 at home.
"It felt good to get a road win here," Bryant said. "It's a very tough place to play and it was a huge test for us."
But even he wasn't so sure Gasol could knock down the 22-footer from the corner.
"Pau's been shooting them well in practice and coach has been urging me to trust him at the 3-point line," Bryant said. "I thought about passing it to him, it seemed like an eternity. But I said, 'What the hell.'
"You think Tebow prays? When that ball left his hand, I must have said 30 Hail Mary's."
Gasol finished with 14 points. He was just 5 of 14 overall, but hit his only 3-point attempt — his first of the season.
"Tonight was not a very effective game on our part, for the most part," Gasol said. "But we continued to fight through it. We forgot about everything else and we made two big plays down the stretch with the put-back and the block and I was able to make a couple plays. Hopefully we'll get the bodies that we have injured right now and it will give us a deeper rotation."
If the Lakers were celebrating a little more than usual, they say they earned the right.
"It was a tough game. It's hard to get a win here. Back to back, getting in here late last night, going to bed late. It's something to be proud of as a team," Gasol said. "Hopefully, we'll get some sleep and get ready for another back-to-back."
The Jazz also left feeling pretty good despite the loss, saying they are a different team than the one that faced the Lakers in the opener.
"We kept playing hard, didn't give up," Jefferson said. "It's one of those games at the end of the day we wish we could have won, but we could walk out with our head up. We played hard until the end. We just got to get ready for New Jersey."
The Jazz face the Nets on Saturday in a game that marks the return of Deron Williams for the first time since he was traded away last February.
"We're coming, we're getting better," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "We played against a good team tonight. They were a little bit better but our effort was great."
NOTES: Lakers forward Jason Kapono missed his second game so he could be with his wife, who gave birth Tuesday to twin girls. … Josh McRoberts (sprained toe/thumb) and Troy Murphy (stomach ailment) also did not suit up for L.A. … Jazz guard Raja Bell was assessed a first-quarter technical after giving Bryant a quick shove then having a few words with him. … Both teams were a combined 1-10 from 3-point range in the first half… Lakers guard Steve Blake suffered a rib contusion in the fourth quarter.
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