The Los Angeles Lakers waited until the third quarter to get going. Once they did, the San Antonio Spurs couldn’t stop them.
And the defending NBA champions contributed to their own demise with a brutal, uncharacteristic fourth-period performance.
Kobe Bryant scored all but two of his 27 points after halftime, including a go-ahead, 10-foot jumper in the lane with 23.9 seconds remaining, and the Lakers rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Spurs 89-85 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Bryant, who finished with nine assists and five rebounds, shot 1-for-3 in the first half and 10-for-18 in the second.
Game 2 will be played Friday night before the best-of-seven series shifts to San Antonio for the third and fourth games. The Lakers are 7-0 in the postseason at Staples Center, where they’ve won 13 straight games overall.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.