Bryant's Shaky Status Adds to a Volatile Mix

By TIM KAWAKAMI

June 2, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

PORTLAND, Ore. — Precaution? Concern? Misdirection? Canny confidence?’

With a few careful phrases and baleful nods Thursday, Laker Coach Phil Jackson raised alarms, raised the fever pitch for tonight’s Game 6 and raised all manner of questions about Kobe Bryant’s status heading into it.

As if this game, this Western Conference finals showdown and this moment needed any more twists and shouts . . .

As if there aren’t a thousand other fascinating things to fixate on . . .

Bryant, who suffered a sprained right foot in Tuesday’s Game 5 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, was held out of practice again Thursday in El Segundo and Jackson said the Lakers won’t know if Bryant will play until right before tipoff tonight.

“He’s not ready to practice yet,” Jackson said. “You know, we’d like to have him out there. But it’s just not comfortable enough for him yet.”

The Lakers, of course, have depended on Bryant’s energy, creativity and most of all his defense against Scottie Pippen in the series, which they lead, 3-2, and any limitation on his movement would be a gigantic shock to the system.

Jackson suggested that keeping him out of Thursday’s practice was more precautionary than anything else.

“I think he understood that, as much as there’s a need to be out there on the floor and get rhythm, there’s also a need to preserve himself for an opportunity if he has it tomorrow,” Jackson said.

Bryant did not speak to reporters.

A Laker spokesman said that Bryant is listed as “probable” for tonight, and several examinations of Bryant’s foot revealed no significant ligament or bone damage.

Several teammates shrugged and said there’s no way that a competitor as fierce as Bryant--who sat out 15 games at the start of the season because of a broken right hand but has not been sidelined since--would sit out this game.

“I know he’ll be out there,” forward Robert Horry said. “This is the most important game of his career so far. So he’ll be out there.”

Said Glen Rice, asked what the Lakers would do if Bryant did not play: “If he didn’t? That hasn’t even crossed my mind. I know he’ll play. He’ll play.”

So, if Bryant will almost certainly suit up and race around as long and as hard as his foot allows, why did Jackson insist on calling Bryant’s playing status “a game-time decision?”

Could Jackson be looking to stir up his team’s emotions after losing Game 5, which followed two scintillating victories at Portland in Games 3 and 4 to take control of the series, and maybe confuse the Trail Blazers?

Could this be a very interesting, and nerve-rattling, motivational moment?

Naaaah.

“I think we’re already on edge, with or without having to deal with the fact that Kobe’s injured right now a little bit,” guard Derek Fisher said.

“We recognize that we let another postseason opportunity to close out a series get by us. And dealing with that is sometimes tough and disappointing, but we talked about the fact that it’s still part of the learning process we’ve been going through all season long, trying to learn how to be the best team in this league.”

Said Horry of a potentially limited Bryant: “It might be a blessing in disguise. That way he won’t be wanting to run around so much, put a lot of pressure on himself to go out and try to carry us.

“He can just hit his open ‘J’s, because he can do that so well, also.”

Even Jackson acknowledged that the Lakers have needed to face some sort of peril in the playoffs--the Sacramento Kings dragging them to a deciding Game 5, the Phoenix Suns burying them in Game 4, Portland swamping them in Game 2--to snap back with their most powerful performances.

The Lakers got another blasting from the Trail Blazers in Game 5, when Portland handed the Lakers their second consecutive home playoff defeat--and first two of the postseason.

Does that mean a Laker counter-storm is brewing?

The Lakers have won the last three meetings in the Rose Garden, dating to the Feb. 29 matchup that led to the No. 1 seeding in the Western Conference playoffs and home-court advantage in the conference finals.

In fact, the visiting team has won six of the last seven games between these two top-echelon teams.

“I don’t know if it’s the adversity that playing on the road against a team like that makes us focus more, concentrate more,” Jackson said. “I have that feeling that maybe that might be a part of it.

“There’s a sense that we can withstand whatever barrage they send at us. I don’t know what the whole clue is behind that. But for whatever reason, we’ve been able to play rather well up there.”

Aside from the Bryant injury question, Jackson said the most important thing is to approach the game, Portland’s aggression and the referees’ calls--especially the referees’ calls--with a strong mental attitude.

In Game 5, Pippen’s hard drives to the basket got Bryant, Ron Harper and Brian Shaw into early foul trouble.

“We felt basically oppressed in [Game 5],” Jackson said. “You know, guys were saying, ‘What was that foul about? What about that foul?’ I said, ‘Forget about the fouls. Just play basketball.’

“You get to the point that they didn’t understand the way the game was being called. And then they got worried about that concept, instead of just playing defense, instead of just coming out and playing hard.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Tale of Two Cities

A statistical comparison of the Lakers in four regular-season games and five playoff games in the Rose Garden and Staples Center:

Lakers vs. Portland in the Rose Garden

Record: 3-1

*--*

FGM-A 3PTM-A FTM-A OFF DEF TR PF ST PTS TOTALS 133-289 18-53 84-117 47 112 159 91 26 368 AVERAGE .460 .340 .718 11.8 28.0 39.8 22.8 6.5 92.0

*--*

Lakers vs. Portland in Staples Center

Record: 2-3

*--*

FGM-A 3PTM-A FTM-A OFF DEF TR PF ST PTS TOTALS 163-387 28-99 104-166 50 158 208 131 32 458 AVERAGE .421 .283 .627 10.0 31.6 41.6 26.2 6.4 91.6