Jackson: Bryant Back on His Game

Kobe Bryant received three liters of intravenous fluid before Monday’s Game 2 and looked drained at times, but he was full of energy and encouragement on the Lakers’ flight back to Los Angeles after the game.

“He was better than OK,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said about Bryant, who suffered a bad case of food poisoning in Sacramento. “He was actually kind of upbeat after the game.... He was supporting his teammates, telling them not to get their heads down.”

Bryant, who scored 30 points in 44 minutes in Game 1, played 40 minutes Monday and finished with 22 points. But he clearly wasn’t the same player, missing 12 of 21 field-goal attempts and looking a step slow on defense.

Bryant is expected to be back at full strength for Friday’s Game 3, which Jackson said will demand a better effort from the entire team.

“You still want to play a game where our efforts are worthy of the importance of the game,” said Jackson, who was disappointed with his team’s overall play Monday. “That’s where we felt that we failed each other. We didn’t keep the ball moving and our offense flowing. There was some inconsistency with players not really knowing or feeling how they should play

“We’re not supporting each other with the same kind of intensity on defense.... I don’t like that [foul trouble] made everybody hesitant when they came out to play in the third quarter. We weren’t the same when we had three starters with three fouls at the beginning of the [second] half.”

*

Whenever Jackson talks about Sacramento center Vlade Divac, a sly smile takes over his face. Instead of being irate about Divac’s flopping ability, which consistently draws charging fouls on Laker center Shaquille O’Neal, Jackson gave Divac some credit. Well, sort of.

“Vlade finds a way to do his antics at the right time to create the right situation and even then, he doesn’t get every call,” Jackson said. “Vlade is very clever and one of the most intelligent players in the game. But even so, Shaq has a lot of fun playing against him.”

*

One Laker who needs to find his shooting touch is point guard Derek Fisher. In 10 playoff games, Fisher is shooting 32.6% from the field and has made only two of 10 three-point attempts against the Kings.

“The only message I have for Fisher is that he has to get the shots out of the offense,” Jackson said. “He has to let them come to him.”

*

When the Lakers get offensive production from their second-line players, headed by Devean George, Samaki Walker and Lindsey Hunter, they are dangerous. But in Games 1 and 2, the three players have made only nine of 27 field-goal attempts for 23 combined points.