**the official la lakers thread**

[Maidana vs Rios]

kobe time...

[CrackYourJaw]

C'mon, J. Kidd, you have to make that...

[Maidana vs Rios]

i smell a kobe 3 at the buzzer ftw

[Dan...]

Come on Mavs.

[KILLA RIGHT]

still only has 1 game winning shot in the playoffs...the media wont spend much time on him chocking

[CrackYourJaw]

i smell a kobe 3 at the buzzer ftw

Celtics, Thunder, Bulls, and now the Lakers...

[Cutthroat]

[THE REED]

It's obvious to me LA is the better team, they got lazy with that 16pt lead... won't happen again.

[Walt Liquor]

kobe ballin outta control with 0 dimes last night..

[Walt Liquor]

With his miss on a potential go-ahead 3-pointer in the waning moments of the Lakers' Game 1 loss versus the Mavericks, Kobe Bryant has now missed his past five postseason game-tying or go-ahead field goal attempts in the final 24 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime. That's right … often called the "best closer in the game," Bryant has actually missed his past five shots in the postseason in situations similar to the one he was in Monday night.

Bryant's past five postseason go-ahead or game-tying FGA, final 24 seconds of fourth quarter or OT

2009 first-round game 3 vs. Jazz, April 23 (misses go-ahead 3-pointer)
With the Lakers trailing 88-86 in the fourth quarter, Kobe misses a long 3-pointer that would have put the Lakers ahead with about a second left in the game. The Lakers lose by that score: 88-86.

2009 NBA Finals Game 2 vs. Magic, June 7 (misses go-ahead 2-pointer)
With the score tied at 88 in the fourth quarter, Kobe has his short jumper blocked by Hedo Turkoglu with under a second left. The Lakers go on to win in overtime 101-96.

2010 first-round Game 6 at Thunder, April 30 (misses go-ahead 2-pointer)
Down 94-93 in the fourth quarter, Kobe misses a 13-foot jumper with about a second left, but Pau Gasol tips in the miss with about half a second left to give the Lakers the lead. They hold on to win by the score of 95-94.

2010 conference finals Game 5 vs. Suns, May 27 (misses go-ahead 3-pointer)
With the score tied at 101 in the fourth quarter, Kobe airballs a contested 3-pointer with a couple of seconds left, but Ron Artest collects the rebound and banks in a shot at the buzzer to give the Lakers a 103-101 victory.

2011 conference semifinals Game 1 vs. Mavericks, May 2 (misses go-ahead 3-pointer)
Trailing 96-94 in the fourth quarter, Kobe misses a 3-pointer with about 2 seconds left that would have given the Lakers the lead. The Lakers go on to lose by that score.

Below are Kobe's career playoff numbers in this situation. Overall, Bryant is 7-25 on potential go-ahead or game-tying FGA in the final 24 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime of postseason games, good for a 28.0 FG percentage. The league average on these shots over Kobe's career (the past 15 postseasons) is about 28.1 percent, so Kobe is basically right at the NBA average