Kobe Bryant Archives February 2008 Kobe Bryant Archives February 2008   KOBE BRYANT SETS HIS SIGHTS ON HIS 4TH CHAMPIONSHIP February 27, 2008 - Kobe Bryant established the tone for this season from opening night: He's going for his fourth championship instead of his third consecutive NBA scoring title. Bryant got 11 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers held Portland to 36 percent field goal shooting, beating the Trail Blazers 96-83 Tuesday night for their ninth straight victory. The 10-time All-Star added nine rebounds and seven assists. "The real value of a super player is that he makes other players better," coach Phil Jackson said. "You can see the apparent emphasis of Kobe's game to get other people involved and make the rest of his team better." Second-year backup point guard Jordan Farmar tied a career high with 21 points for the Lakers, who lead the Western Conference by one game over San Antonio and Phoenix and are 40-17, just two wins behind last season's total with 25 games to play. Pau Gasol had 15 points and 10 rebounds. LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS GAME HIGHLIGHTS "I have not mentioned it to them. I've just talked about home-court advantage and what we want to do in terms of getting ourselves in position to compete in the playoffs," Jackson said. "It's all about what team you're going to match up well against, then start to analyze the teams that are going to be in your bracket and see what your chances are. I think almost every team in our conference that's going to make the playoffs in the bottom ranking is going to say, 'We've got a good chance against the team above us.'"   KOBE BRYANT IS BETRAYED BY HIS PINKIE COSTING LAKERS WIN February 7, 2008 - With the game on the line, Kobe Bryant was betrayed by his pinkie. Give an assist to Joe Johnson's tight defense. Johnson scored 28 points, including four free throws in the final 23 seconds, and he forced a key turnover by Bryant with 8 seconds left as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 98-95 on Wednesday night. With Atlanta leading 95-93, Johnson guarded Bryant outside the 3-point line when Bryant suddenly lost control of the ball. Bryant was called for over-and-back when he regained possession past the midcourt line. "I think the ball went off his leg,'' Johnson said. "I went at it and tried to hit it, but didn't. I think it hit off his leg again.'' Bryant's pinkie finger on his right hand was dislocated in Tuesday night's win at New Jersey. After showing in shooting practice Wednesday he could play with the injury, he logged 37 minutes with the finger taped to the ring finger. "It is what it is,'' said Bryant, who said the finger was "very swollen.'' LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. ATLANTA HAWKS GAME HIGHLIGHTS "I'll try to muscle through it over the next couple days,'' Bryant said, adding his finger didn't allow him to feel the ball properly on the late turnover. "It bounced out of my hand,'' he said. Bryant had 10 assists, but was only 4-of-16 for 11 points. He was scoreless in the second half before hitting a jumper with 1:41 left. Bryant was the last of the Lakers' starters to score in double figures. He recorded his ninth assist, setting up a 3-pointer by Luke Walton, late in the third quarter when he still had nine points. - NBA.com