Kobe Bryant always regarded himself as the premier or only clutch player of the Los Angeles Lakers when the game is tied and there is less than one minute to play in the fourth quarter.
In a video shown by Bleacher Report, the Lakers and Denver Nuggets were tied at 86 with 15.1 seconds remaining on the clock during their Sunday night game on November 23 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
After a missed free throw, the Lakers called for a timeout. The team huddled and Bryant can be heard telling the rest of the team to give the ball to him and let him handle business to serve them the victory. Xavier Henry appeared confident relying on their leader to deliver, giving him a big grin and a high five. Jeremy Lin, Nick Young and coach Byron Scott, did not seem to have any other option.
As the game proceeded, Bryant faced up against his defender and attempted a shot from three-point land, which missed, forcing the game into overtime. The Lakers finally succumbed to the Nuggets in OT with a final score of 101-94.
According to ESPN, Kobe had a game-high 27 points and added 6 rebounds and 4 assists. He finished with 10 for 24 shooting from the field and was only 4 for 14 after the third quarter. The Lakers managed to lead 85-82 during the fourth quarter with 3:15 left on the clock with the help of point guard Lin. However, they failed to score until overtime. Lin broke the tie during overtime but the Nuggets rallied to put the game away from the Lakers' reach. LA Times reported that Ty Lawson led Denver in scoring with 18 points.
Ed Davis, who started for the first time as a Laker, said, "We shot 37 percent from the field and had only 11 points in the fourth quarter, and it's tough to win like that. We had our chances down the stretch and we didn't finish it off."
Coach Brian Shaw of the Nuggets said in the same ESPN report, "Kobe's going to get his shots, he's going to get his attempts, and we know that. We just wanted to make him work hard for everything that he gets, and work hard on the defensive end so that he doesn't just have a night off at that end and can spend all of his energy just on the offensive side."