Three nights later in Portland, he scored 37, tying it at the end of regulation with a three-pointer, which he shot horizontally, ducking under Ruben Patterson's arm, winning it at the end of the second overtime with a moon-ball three he threw into the rafters over fast-closing Theo Ratliff.
"Like the 81 points he scored against [Toronto]," said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was the Jordan of the big guys, doing what he did every night.
"When Kobe plays at that level, he's dangerous at any place on the offensive side of the court. Three-pointers, I mean, way out there three-pointers. Mid-range, drives to the hoop that he can make, acrobatic stuff. He can do all that. . . .
"I don't remember [Jordan] ever getting to that level. But, on the other hand, he was very high all the time, and really enabled the guys around them."
Now to see who Kobe enables in Game 4 and what new twists, if any, lay ahead in this long-running plot.
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mark.heisler@latimes.com
