For nearly nine minutes, Bryant turned the other nine players into either props, spectators or useful tools. There are maybe a dozen players in NBA history with the ability to hold sway over a playoff game for that long.

And when asked to describe it, Bryant is so matter-of-fact that he sounds like a Geico commercial. C'mon, it's easy. A caveman could do it.

"I did a great job using my teammates and they knocked shots down and I put the defense in a position where I got to play 1-on-1 a little bit," Bryant said.

Karl put it in better perspective.

"No one in basketball could have covered him," he said. "I think Jesus would have had trouble covering him."

In the second half, Bryant treated the game as if it were a fish snagged on the end of his line, playing it out and reeling it back in. He squelched an early push by the Nuggets with a ridiculous and-one banker and drilled a demoralizing fadeaway that pushed the margin to 20 points for the first time.

"He really waited all the first half until the very end to exploit his game," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "When he carried us in at the half with that burst of points, it really set the tone. We were able to go into the second half and feed off that."

Slideshow   Main attraction A look at the highs and lows of Lakers guard Kobe Bryant's career.

During a fourth-quarter timeout, he reminded his teammates that the Nuggets would be playing with desperation and this wasn't the time to coast. "No mercy," he barked.

And when Pau Gasol was clobbered by Chauncey Billups for a flagrant foul, he crouched down to the floor and got his teammate's mind back on the game.

"He looked like he was pretty upset," Bryant said. "I reminded him what we were here for."

To answer questions and change perceptions.

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