The second half began. Though Kobe's words at halftime had struck his teammates as a little strange, they finally felt that Kobe was acting like a young man. Who didn't do foolish things at that age? Saying weird things was exactly what someone that age was supposed to do.
The Spurs remained energetic and aggressive in the second half, repeatedly attacking the Lakers' defense under Wilkins's leadership. The Lakers were starting to lose control on the defensive end.
Kobe had to stay glued to Avery Johnson. He didn't dare leave the Little General open from three and had no time to help on defense. Bowen had to deal with Elliott and could not spare attention for anyone else.
O'Neal and Campbell's sluggish feet on defense allowed the Spurs to score repeatedly inside at the start of the third quarter. When neither interior defender was in form, a team's paint defense would collapse at once.
Kobe began to exert himself offensively. He knew that if he did not step up now, this game would be as good as lost.
The Spurs had been prepared for this. They did not dare let this young player run free. Too many teams had already made that mistake; they would not make it again!
Bob Hill assigned Sean Elliott to guard Kobe. The 2.01-meter small forward had extremely quick lateral movement, and under his pressure, Kobe could only raise his release point with difficult moves. Naturally, that lowered Kobe's shooting percentage.
That still could not stop the Lakers' decline. Even O'Neal began to drift off in the second half, committing one botched catch after another.
Kobe's difficult shots could not compare in efficiency to the Spurs' easy looks at the rim, and with O'Neal out of sorts on both ends of the floor, the Lakers