Sam Smith

LOS ANGELES - It seems Kobe Bryant has been yelling at his teammates.

My response would be: What took him so long?

And Tuesday he probably just took a deep breath, looked at the team we all thought was better than the Boston Celtics and realized, like we do now, that it isn't. So Bryant took it upon himself as a guy named Michael Jordan used to do after yelling at his teammates and a guy named Larry Bird used to do after yelling at his teammates, and Bryant scored 36 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to carry the Lakers to an 87-81 victory that left Boston with a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

"I think, undoubtedly, it's (coming back to win) the leadership of Kobe Bryant out there," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "He was aggressive right from the start. Put … the defense on its heels. We stayed aggressive and Kobe was instrumental in that."

Yes, it was Bryant with a three with 6:55 left to erase Boston's last lead of the game, and then when the Celtics continued to believe they could win the game and got within 83-78 with 1:28 left, Bryant hit a 19-footer in Ray Allen's face and a floater to close out the Lakers' scoring.

"For me it's a pretty simple formula," said Bryant. "Just take it to them, just go to the basket."

Bryant did this time, and though he gave lip service to sharing the ball and involving his teammates, it's become pretty clear he doesn't have the team we thought he did.

Of course, by now favoring the Celtics it means I will have picked both teams to win the series, giving me a better chance of getting something right.

Most of us thought this was the Lakers' time: Jackson breaking Red Auerbach's record of 10 champions, Bryant winning without Shaq. The Lakers took care of the defending champion Spurs somewhat easily. The Celtics took seven games to beat the Atlanta Hawks. Case closed.

But the Celtics, even in defeat Tuesday, have been the better team in this series. They weren't supposed to win Tuesday after the huge 38-10 free throw disparity in Game 2 (it was 34-22 Lakers Tuesday), yet led with seven minutes left after trailing by 11 in the first half and with Paul Pierce shooting two of 14 and Kevin Garnett six of 21.

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Ray Allen had 25 points while Sasha Vujacic saved the Lakers for another day with 20 points off the bench, the only other Lakers player besides Bryant in double figures.

An aside: What a miserable game of desultory play, poor shooting and unforced turnovers. So much for Celtics-Lakers glory. This was more like Knicks and Rockets.

"It was not a beautiful ballgame," agreed Jackson. "It's a transition game from East Coast to West Coast. Both teams playing short rest. We'll have a day to catch up and hopefully both of us will play better basketball Thursday."

Ah, yes, those Lakers teammates of Bryant's.

They continue to be awful as Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol combined for 13 points and no first-half field goals. Gasol did wake up some in the fourth quarter with five points and six rebounds, but we clearly see why his Memphis Grizzlies were 0-12 in the playoffs and the Lakers wanted to trade Odom for him before the Grizzlies decided they'd rather have no long term contracts and no real or half-real players.

Odom is averaging 9.3 points and Gasol 13.7. They've had numerous shots blocked as they've tried to gently lay the ball in against the more active, aggressive Celtics.