Kobe Bryant 45 points, 10 rebounds vs. Spurs (Game 1 of the WCF); May 19, 2001. Part 1/2

Remember adding &fmt=18 at the end of the URL if HQ isn't available! Notice Doug Collins and his lucky charm ring for the 2001 draft :) Enjoy the video everyone. Associated Press: Lakers cruise past Spurs, steal home-court edge Shaquille O'Neal has been convinced: Kobe Bryant is the best. "I told Kobe that he was my idol," O'Neal said. "I'm serious. He's playing phenomenal. I think he's the best player in the league, by far." With his take-your-breath-away moves and long-range daggers, Bryant stole San Antonio's home-court advantage in a hurry in the Western Conference finals. He scored 45 points on 19-for-35 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Spurs 104-90 Saturday in Game 1. Shaquille O'Neal added 28 points and 11 rebounds as the Lakers won their 16th in a row -- eighth in the playoffs. He even made six of eight free throws.Game 2 is Monday night in the first showdown between the past two NBA champions in a conference final since 1985. "This team is hungry," Lakers head coach Phil Jackson said. Bryant fell just three points short of his career playoff high of 48 set in his last game, the series clincher against Sacramento. It was the most points ever against San Antonio in a playoff game, surpassing the 43 Hakeem Olajuwon scored for Houston in the 1995 conference finals. Bryant tried to deflect the praise to Shaq. "I don't know, man," Bryant said. "I'm just a little guard. I try to steal some of his post moves, but they don't seem to have the same powerful effect as when he does it." Bryant didn't think he was in any particular zone, but was only trying to take what the Spurs were giving him. "You really have to pick your spots with those two big guys down there," he said. "It's a lot of work, and a lot of preparation." With 93 points in consecutive games, Bryant was drawing a comparison with the greatest big-game player ever -- Michael Jordan. Horace Grant kept referring to Bryant as "No. 23," the number Jordan wore. It wasn't a mistake. "I knew what I was saying," Grant said. O'Neal said it wasn't the points but the way Bryant scored them that was so impressive. "That's where I've been trying to get him all year," O'Neal said. "He's been getting his points, getting everybody involved, drawing and kicking, doing the right things. Somebody once said the mark of a great player is how you make the other players around you play. I now can truly say that Kobe Bryant is the best player in this league." O'Neal and Bryant might have feuded in the regular season, but they blended like Beach Boys harmony in this one. When one would misfire, the other took over. Bryant, who averaged 37.7 points against the Spurs in the regular season, was even tougher this time, maybe because San Antonio is without Derek Anderson. And when Bryant wasn't scoring, he was finding O'Neal inside. Tim Duncan had 28 points and 14 rebounds, and David Robinson 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who lost at home for the first time in the playoffs. Antonio Daniels scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half for San Antonio, which at 58-24 had the best regular-season record in the NBA, two games ahead of Los Angeles. But frustrated by the Lakers' defense, the Spurs misfired from long range, especially early in the game, and committed an uncharacteristic 11 first-half turnovers. "We had open looks at the basket. We were missing shots that we normally make," Robinson said. "We were turning the ball over. You throw the ball right to the other guy, what are you doing? That's not the way we play basketball."

YouTube | August 10, 2008

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