Sat, May 22, 1999
INGLEWOOD (SCN
Saturday, May 22, 1999) -
Kobe Bryant and the Los
Angeles Lakers came into
this season as one of the
Western Conference's most feared teams. After Saturday's
101-91 defeat at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, they
find themselves on the brink of elimination from the
postseason.

Bryant did his best to keep the Lakers, who are now
trailing the Spurs 3-0 in the best of seven series, in the
game but it just wasn't meant to be after continual
defensive breakdowns.

San Antonio came out of the gate strong, building a 43-39
lead at the break thanks to 24 points from power forward
Tim Duncan, who finished the game with a monster 37.

Bryant tried to combat the seven-footer with 11 of his own,
but just couldn't keep up with the dominant big man.

Kobe brought Los Angeles back in the third quarter,
making a steal and a slam that gave the Lakers a 56-50
lead, but once again the Spurs came back with a 17-10
run to retake the lead, 67-66 after three.

The 21-year old phenom tried to work his magic again in
the final period, draining a three that put L.A. up 81-77,
before the Lakers' defense completely fell apart.

Spurs' guard Jaren Jackson took over from there, racking
up nine of his team's next 24 points, burying the Lakers
and most likely their hopes of an NBA championship.