Chapter 54: Capítulo 54 Preseason Game 2: Your Turn, Big Fella

Phoenix didn’t go back to Nash after the timeout. Kevin Johnson brought the ball across instead, and within two possessions the problem was different.

Kobe picked him up at the top. Johnson was less patient than Nash. He didn’t keep the ball alive waiting for something to open; if a defender gave him an angle, he took it.

Phoenix brought Manning and A.C. Green up for a double-high set. Kobe fought over the first screen and stayed attached as Johnson used the second to gain half a step. Ben showed above the arc, but Johnson didn’t hesitate.

He drew Ben out and fired the ball to Manning in the space Ben had vacated. Manning caught near the elbow and knocked down the jumper.

On the run back, Ben muttered, “Didn’t even see him move.”

They reset. The next trip came from the other side. Johnson took the left wing and called for the screen, then rejected it before it arrived. Kobe saw it, shifted with him and got his hip into Johnson as he turned the corner, forcing him toward the baseline.

Johnson gathered, created enough space with his last step and rose from fifteen feet.

Kobe got a hand up.

The shot dropped anyway.

Johnson passed within a foot of him on the way back.

Phoenix kept at it. On the next trip, Manning screened away before turning back to free Johnson near the top. Fisher got caught in the traffic, and Johnson stepped into the opening. His jumper missed, but Green chased down the long rebound and Phoenix got another possession out of it. Fisher stayed attached when Johnson came off the next screen, forcing him to give the ball up. Phoenix swung it twice before Ben closed on a jumper from the wing.

The whistle came on the rebound.

“Come here.”

Harris already had the clipboard out when they reached him.

“Ben, show higher. Fisher, get back to the ball.” Harris circled the screen with the marker. “Bryant, you’re low when he turns the corner. Bowen, you’re splitting the weak side.”

Kobe knew where Harris was going before he finished drawing it. He nodded with the others.

Phoenix tested it almost immediately. Johnson walked the ball up and used Manning before attacking the same side. Ben showed higher this time. Fisher recovered behind the play, and Kobe dropped toward Manning when Johnson turned the corner. Johnson picked up the rotation and tried to move the ball before Kobe could close the gap, but Bowen was already coming across from the weak side.

The first pass went out. The second came back toward the top. By the time Phoenix found a shot, the clock was nearly gone. Johnson had to give it up to Green several feet behind the line.

The shot missed.

Knight grabbed the rebound and found Fisher.

A scramble at the other end left Cassell matched onto Kobe. Kobe saw it before Phoenix could sort itself out and walked straight to the block with one hand raised. Fisher waited for the floor to clear, then bounced the entry inside.

Kobe caught it, took one hard dribble and felt Cassell leaning into his left shoulder. He turned the other way and rose for the short fadeaway.

Swish.

Phoenix kept finding answers of its own. Manning pulled Knight away from the rim on one possession and scored over him. Johnson attacked Fisher on another, got his shoulder past him and forced Ben to step across.

The whistle came before Johnson could finish, and he walked to the line and made both.

The young Lakers answered often enough to keep Phoenix from taking control again. Fisher slowed them when they needed it and pushed when Phoenix failed to get matched. Ben worked the glass and made Johnson change direction when he showed high. Bowen spent most of the stretch fighting through screens and denying the easy reversal.

Phoenix went back to Johnson late in the stint. Manning came up to screen, and Johnson used it to get Fisher trailing. Ben stepped out like Harris had told him. Johnson gave the ball up and cut through, looking for it back on the other side.

Fisher stayed with him.

The ball went to Manning instead. Kobe dropped into the gap, taking away the lane long enough for Knight to recover. Manning moved it to the wing. Bowen fought over another screen and closed. Phoenix reversed it again, but Fisher had already worked his way back in front of Johnson.

Johnson called for the ball with the clock running down.

He caught near the top, took one dribble and pulled up with Fisher in front of him.

The jumper hit the back rim.

Ben grabbed the rebound with both hands.

The horn at the scorer’s table sounded before Fisher could bring the ball across half court. Kobe looked toward the sideline.

Van Exel was up. Eddie too. Shaq pulled the towel from his shoulders and handed it toward the bench as Harris called out the substitutions.

Kobe headed toward the sideline.

Shaq was waiting for him.

“Not bad, Kobe.”

“Go get’em big fella.”

Shaq clapped him on the back as he passed. “Been waiting on it.”

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Van Exel walked the ball up and got Shaq his first touch early. Shaq buried his man on the left block, absorbed the bump, and finished over the top with a soft jump hook. The hook dropped clean.

Phoenix adjusted on the next trip. They shaded Manning toward the middle, ready to help on the entry. Van Exel reversed the ball, got it back, then fed Shaq on the block again. Shaq put the ball down once. Before he could take a second dribble, Manning took his first step toward the paint.

Shaq saw it too. Manning took another step toward him, and the ball came back out before the double could arrive. Ceballos caught it with his feet set and buried the three.

A few possessions later, Shaq caught on the left block again. Phoenix sent the second defender earlier this time. Shaq waited for him to commit, then found Eddie cutting behind the help for the layup.

Phoenix went back to Manning at the elbow. Elden met him early and pushed the catch farther from the lane. Manning moved the ball out, and Phoenix ended up with a contested jumper late in the clock.

The miss started the Lakers the other way. Van Exel pushed up the middle and pulled up in transition. His jumper missed long, but Shaq was already there for the putback.

Phoenix called timeout.

The Suns settled down afterward, but the Lakers kept getting the ball inside. Shaq drew help, Van Exel kept the offense moving, and Eddie and Ceballos found openings when Phoenix committed too much attention to the paint. By halftime, Los Angeles led 57–49.

The horn sent both teams toward their tunnels. Kobe fell in behind Fisher until Shaq came alongside him.

He put a hand on the back of Kobe’s head and shoved him a step faster toward the tunnel.

“How was that for a big fella?”

Kobe knocked his arm away.

Shaq laughed and kept walking.

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After halftime, Harris changed the groups. Kobe went back in beside Van Exel and Bowen, with Ben and Shaq up front. It was the first time those five had shared the floor that night.

Van Exel brought the ball across and called the set. Shaq came up to screen for Kobe, planting himself near the top of the key. Kobe used it and turned the corner with his defender trailing. Manning stepped over from the weak side, taking away the lane and leaving Shaq behind the play. Kobe took another dribble, waited for Shaq to clear the traffic, then dropped the pass into his path.

Shaq caught it without breaking stride and finished at the rim. On the way back, he pointed at Kobe before picking up his man.

Nash had returned for Phoenix alongside Johnson. On one trip, the first action went nowhere and Nash called for a high screen. Kobe stayed over the top. Nash rejected it, crossed back and tried the other side, but Kobe stayed attached and took away the turn. Nash pulled the ball back out with the clock getting low.

Phoenix reset. Johnson moved it to Manning near the elbow, where Ben got a hand up on the jumper.

The shot missed, and Shaq pulled down the rebound.

A few possessions later, Fisher replaced Van Exel. Fisher came off Ben’s screen and swung the ball to Kobe on the right wing. The defender closed short, giving him enough room. Kobe rose and knocked down the pull-up.

Phoenix answered through Johnson. He caught Fisher leaning on the next trip, turned the corner, and drew Ben before slipping the ball to Manning in the short corner. Manning caught and made the jumper before Bowen could get across.

Fisher called for the inbound and brought them back the other way.

A few trips later, Bowen forced his man to give the ball up along the sideline and took off when Ben secured the rebound. Fisher pushed it ahead to Kobe, who crossed half-court with Phoenix scrambling back.

Bowen trailed the play alone.

Kobe waited until the defender committed to the lane before kicking the ball back outside. Bowen caught behind the arc, set his feet, and made the three.

Phoenix kept Nash and Johnson together for another stretch. The two guards worked through a slip action near the top, but Fisher stayed with Johnson, and Kobe didn’t leave Nash when the screener slipped early. The pass wasn’t there. Phoenix reversed the ball and tried to restart the action, but Shaq got a hand on the next pass.

Fisher collected it and pushed.

Kobe caught the advance pass with Phoenix already back. He slowed instead of forcing his way into the set defense, then attacked the middle. The second defender stepped across. Kobe waited for him to commit and kicked the ball back to Fisher above the arc.

Fisher made the three.

Phoenix called timeout.

Players moved toward the scorer’s table when the timeout ended. Harris sent three Lakers up with them, and Kobe started toward the bench.

“Bryant, you stay on.”

Kobe stopped, nodded, and turned back toward the floor.

Harris changed the pieces around him twice more over the next few minutes. Ben came back for Shaq, and Phoenix started reaching deeper into its bench. Kobe added a pull-up in transition when Phoenix failed to pick him up, Ben cleaned up a miss around the rim, and Bowen forced a turnover along the sideline. The lead stayed in double figures.

At the next dead ball, Harris finally called Kobe over.

Kobe took the towel from the trainer and sat beside Ben. Harris was already calling out the next coverage.

The end of the bench handled the rest.

The Lakers won 91–77.

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Milestones:

So if we hit both milestones, that’s 2 extra chapters.