PHOENIX (AP)—Tim Thomas admits he got away with whacking Kobe Bryant in the head at a critical point in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.
It was that kind of day for Thomas, whose season has gone from banishment from Chicago to a starting spot with the Pacific Division champion Suns.
Series at a Glance
vs.
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Game 1: at PHO
LAL 102, PHO 107 - Final
Recap | Box Score -
Game 2: at PHO
LAL 99, PHO 93 - Final
Recap | Box Score -
Game 3: at LAL
PHO 92, LAL 99 - Final
Recap | Box Score -
Game 4: at LAL
PHO 98, LAL 99 - Final OT
Recap | Box Score -
Game 5: at PHO
LAL 97, PHO 114 - Final
Recap | Box Score -
Game 6: at LAL
PHO 126, LAL 118 - Final OT
Recap | Box Score -
Game 7: at PHO
LAL 90, PHO 121 - Final
Recap | Box Score
Thomas made his first eight shots—and finished 8-of-10—for 22 points and grabbed a career playoff best 15 rebounds in the Suns’ 107-102 victory over the Lakers on Sunday. He also acknowledged responsibility for the knot on Bryant’s head.
“I definitely fouled him,” Thomas said Monday. “I got away with one, but I didn’t do it intentionally. It wasn’t like I threw a jab at him.”
With less than a minute to play, and the Lakers down 101-97, Bryant was sent tumbling to the floor as he lost the ball on a drive to the basket, incredulous that no whistle blew.
“Yeah, that was crazy,” Bryant said after the Lakers practiced on Monday. “That could have made it a two-point game, which is right where we wanted to be.”
Instead, Steve Nash sank a 3-pointer with 1:07 to go and the Suns handed coach Phil Jackson his first loss in 15 playoff openers.
“I think all our players were encouraged by the effort, and thought we had the right idea,” Jackson said. “Our execution came up a little bit short.”
So did a lot of Bryant’s jumpers.
The NBA scoring champ shot 7-for-21 and scored 22 points.
The Lakers went back to Los Angeles after Sunday’s game and worked out on their practice court Monday in preparation for Game 2 on Wednesday night in Phoenix.
After averaging 42.5 points against the Suns in the regular season, Bryant never got his jumper going in a game plan that had the Lakers looking to take advantage inside against the extremely small Suns’ lineup.
Phoenix would have been even smaller if not for the addition of Thomas, who was sent home after playing only three games for Chicago, jettisoned for what coach Scott Skiles perceived as a bad attitude.
“You’ve got to get lucky some time,” Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni said, “and we got lucky with him.”
For 3 1/2 months, Thomas sat at home and worked out with local college and high school players.
“I’ve heard 20 different thousand stories,” Thomas said of accounts of his issues with the Bulls. “‘I didn’t work hard, I had a problem with the coaches’ — all kinds of stuff. But you know that’s not really my concern. I know and the people on the inside know what happened in that situation. I just wasn’t wanted.”
The Suns wanted him dearly.
On March 3, after Thomas cleared waivers, Phoenix landed a 6-foot-10, 235-pound player who could shoot from outside and averaged double-figure points in his eight previous NBA seasons. The acquisition was even more crucial with Kurt Thomas out with a broken right foot.
“Looking at all the injuries, it’s been critical,” Nash said. “When Kurt Thomas went down, we really needed someone, not only just another big body, but some depth, and we were able to pick up a very capable player.”
D’Antoni knows the Suns can’t count on another near-perfect game for Tim Thomas.
“We need to get going on all cylinders,” D’Antoni said of the high-scoring squad that sputtered offensively after a 39-point first quarter on Sunday.
D’Antoni gave the Lakers some of the credit, but added, “`We can push the ball a little bit more. We can get Steve in more of an open-court kind of situation, quick pick-and-rolls where they have a hard time. You can talk about it, but when it happens so fast it’s hard to adjust to. We didn’t do that. We let them play the way they talked about, and we’ve got to get them out of that.”
They can expect a more aggressive performance by Bryant, too, but not the kind of one-man show he put on against Phoenix in the regular season.
“I listen to the big guy,” Bryant said, gesturing toward Jackson. “That’s who I play for. If he says go out there and shoot the ball 50 times, that’s what I’m going to do. I just follow his orders, follow his lead, and try to play the way he wants me to play, to the best of my ability.”
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