Was Kobe Only Healthy Laker?

PORTLAND, Ore. —  OK, who was the injured Laker again?

Kobe Bryant, after two days of nothing more than light practice, and sometimes no practice, jumped right into the heavy stuff Friday night upon his return to action, taking an entire team on his back. He held up.

The Lakers didn’t.

Bryant scored 33 points, but the rest of the team combined for 60 in the loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals at the Rose Garden.

Bryant was 12 of 24 from the field, but the rest of the Lakers combined for 22 of 51 (43.1%), so they will be a decisive Game 7 on Sunday at Staples Center.

Bryant played all 48 minutes, but the rest of the Lakers combined for . . . well, just say it wasn’t a good night to be taking roll.

It wasn’t Bryant’s finest hour either, but it was one of his most interesting, at least in recent times. A sprained right foot, after all, had put his availability in question, with Coach Phil Jackson saying the day before it would be a game-time decision. The Lakers officially listed him more optimistically as probable, and teammates practically laughed off any suggestion he would sit out. Maybe if he had a cast on the foot and was shot full of medication, and then only maybe.

“I do know that as long as his foot isn’t amputated, he’ll give it a shot,” Derek Fisher said.

It wasn’t, so he did.

“I didn’t think about it,” Bryant said afterward. “Once I started playing, the foot was the last thing I was thinking about.”

The part about starting to play was the tough one. Bryant appeared obviously limited by the injury, though he said later that was more being “kind of nervous at first to test it” than about any actual inability because of anything physical. He lacked the signature explosiveness. A first-team all-defense selection, he struggled to stay in front of his man.

Jackson tried to do his part by moving Bryant from Scottie Pippen, a stronger and more integral part of the Trail Blazer attack, back to Damon Stoudamire, his assignment at the start of the series. But that was no gift because of Stoudamire’s speed. Nothing helped. Bryant missed four of five shots and had two turnovers the first quarter, and Stoudamire was able to penetrate and had eight points.

“I pushed through it,” Bryant said.

It got much better. Bryant made four of six shots in the second quarter and scored 11 of the Lakers’ 23 points. He was three of five in the third quarter, scoring seven points to again lead the team in that category. Bryant was outstanding during a fourth-quarter surge that cut a 13-point deficit to a reasonable eight with 5:31 left. He had 12 points, four three-pointers in six tries, and two blocks.

“I didn’t know what to think,” he said. “I just sort of cleared my thoughts and went into the game. I didn’t know what would happen. If I hurt it worse, I hurt it worse.”

He didn’t. He just missed his career playoff high of 35 points, set in Game 3 at Sacramento when the Lakers finished with 91. But by all indications didn’t do any damage to the ankle. More definitive word should come today, after swelling and stiffness has a chance to set in overnight.

That’s one of the reasons Jackson didn’t take him out, to make sure Bryant wouldn’t have trouble getting loose again after a brief rest. Of course, the fact that Jackson needed at least one player on the court who could score may also have had something to do with it.

“I thought he played OK,” Jackson said. “I wasn’t pleased with his defense particularly. We feel like if we have a couple guys score on their team and can keep everyone else [in check, we’ll be fine]. But when four or five guys scored, it hurt us defensively.”

Stoudamire finished with 14 points, making seven of 13 shots, and added seven rebounds and four assists without a turnover.

“I saw him wince a couple times out there,” Jackson said of Bryant. “But for the most part, I thought he was relatively pain free.”

Physically, at least.