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TORONTO — Early in the third quarter last night, Kobe Bryant ambled past Toronto Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell after a timeout and gave a little wink, as if to say, you haven't seen anything yet.
Bryant then coolly drained a three-point shot in front of the Raptors' bench to prove it.
He made all kinds of other shots, too, as the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers ran over the Raptors 121-101 in front of a star-struck crowd at the Air Canada Centre.
His most spectacular, perhaps, was another three-pointer in the dying minutes of the third quarter. He hit an absurdly difficult — for anyone else at least — fall-away shot from the right-hand corner that stunted a Raptors rally and set the tone for the Lakers' breakaway fourth quarter.
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant goes up for a slam dunk against the Raptors Friday night in Toronto. Bryant scored 46 in the Lakers 121-101 win. (REUTERS/Mark Blinch)
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"It was a big momentum shot," said Bryant, whose game-high 46 points came on 19-of-28 shooting. "It was one of those shots that can kind of take the air out of the building and, fortunately for me, it went in."
Bryant could have scored more, but he barely made it to the foul line, where he was a perfect 4-for-4. In comparison, when Bryant scored 81 points against the Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006 — the second-highest single-game total in NBA history — he was 18 of 20 from the line.
But Bryant delivered when necessary last night.
The winking three-pointer he hit early in the third was part of a Lakers surge that pushed their 56-51 halftime lead to 11 midway through the quarter.
Jose Calderon scored six points as the Raptors responded with an 11-3 run before Bryant's unlikely shot to take L.A. into the fourth up six points.
But Bryant kept going from there, as he was all over the Lakers' fourth-quarter spurt in which they made their first eight field goals, with Bryant knocking down three for eight points and assisting on a pair.
The Lakers, 29-16, were up by 15 with six minutes to go and the Raptors were spent, the electrified capacity crowd of 19,800 left only to appreciate the opponent.
It all came on a day when the Lakers were short-handed because of an afternoon trade in which they added Memphis Grizzlies all-star forward Pau Gasol, making them instant contenders in the deep Western Conference.
Gasol couldn't make it Toronto in time for the game, while Kwame Brown — the Lakers' starting centre while Andrew Bynum (knee) is out — was on his way to Memphis and Luke Walton was injured (hip).
That just meant more touches for Bryant, the news of the trade adding a little extra zest after a tough 90-89 loss to the Pistons in Detroit on Thursday.
"What gave us a little extra pop was we were playing with eight guys, really, so we all had to bring it," Bryant said. "But that being said, I think everyone was a little bit excited at the opportunity we have in front of ourselves."
Bryant had some help as the Lakers' bench chipped in with 37 points, including seven-of-10 three-point shooting by Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic.
The loss ended the Raptors' six-game home winning streak.
Bryant counted the 89th 40-point game of his NBA career, third behind Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.
"You know, when we played some good defence, he hit some tough shots," Mitchell said. "Everybody got a little chance to guard him, everybody got a little taste."
Toronto was led by Andrea Bargnani's 28 points, a career high, while Chris Bosh struggled to 22 points (7-for-22) and 15 rebounds.
The Raptors dropped to 25-21 with the loss, but can be buoyed by the knowledge they're escaping Toronto's winter today in advance of their game in Miami against the Heat on Monday.
Meeting them in Florida will be guard T.J. Ford who will begin practising with the team for the first time since he injured his neck on Dec. 11.
