I grew up a Lakers fan and one thing I was rarely concerned with were were 4th quarter deficits.  I knew Magic, Worthy, Green, Nick Van Exel, Cedric, EJ, Shaq, Kobe, Fisher and Horry would save the day.  Outside of Kobe those guys are gone and so is my confidence that 4th quarter comeback can happen or a 4th quarter collapse wouldn't happen.  Last night, Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook enforced my current fears as the Thunder wiped out a 13 point lead with 8 minutes left in the game.

Durant had 31 points and two daggers.  One dagger was a 3 pointer with 13 seconds left and the other dagger was a quote on the secret to slowing down Kobe

“I’m tall and I have long arms,” Durant said. “I just tried to put a hand up and hopefully he missed it.”  It kills me to think long arms is all it takes to stop one of the top 5 players to ever play (yeah I said it).

That top 5 player had the following to say after the game. “The shots that I took were tough shots,” Bryant said. “I was forced to take tough shots and they didn’t fall for me tonight. Either I have to free myself up to get better looks in the fourth quarter, or other guys have to be more aggressive. It’s one or the other.”

Bryant singled out teammate Pau Gasol, who finished with 10 points on four-for-10 shooting, saying “Pau has to be more aggressive. He’s the guy that’s catching the ball and is looking to pass.”