5. Game 4 of the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals
Come playoff time, it seemed like Kobe Bryant’s favorite victim were the San Antonio Spurs.
After the Los Angeles Lakers easily defeated them in the 2001 and 2002 postseasons, the Spurs got revenge by ousting L.A. in six games in the second round of the 2003 NBA Playoffs en route to their second championship.
In 2004, the two teams met again in the second round of the playoffs, and it looked like deja vu as the Spurs moved out to a 2-0 series lead with ease, just as they did in ’03. The Lakers mustered a win in Game 3 at Staples Center, but it seemed like a concession win at best.
Compounding the Lakers’ slim chances of coming back to win the series was Bryant’s legal case, which required him to fly back and forth from Colorado, often on the day of a game.
Game 4 of this series was one of those games, as Bryant arrived at Staples just in time for the opening tip. He then treated Lakers fans to a masterpiece: 42 points on 15-of-27 shooting from the field, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and no turnovers.
After trailing by 10 at halftime, the Lakers dominated the second half en route to a 98-90 win and a tied series. The next game was the one where Derek Fisher hit his famous game-winning shot with 0.4 seconds remaining, which was the impetus behind L.A. finishing off the Spurs in six games.
Unfortunately, the Lakers fell apart at the seams in the NBA Finals that year against the Detroit Pistons. But for a minute that spring, all seemed good in Lakersland, and it started with this dominant game from Bryant.