Whenever he's needed, Kobe knows how to deliver

Game Time: Lakers 131, Mavericks 96

After a long stretch during which the Lakers had not played particularly well, where some end-game and at-the-buzzer heroics by Kobe Bryant kept their record top-heavy in the win column, this game was a wall-to-wall blowout. And it was Kobe who lit the fuse.

Indeed, the Mavs had won a tough game the previous night in Sacramento, while the Lakers were still enjoying the residual thrill of Kobe’s dramatic game-winning triple against the Kings two nights ago.

L.A. was up and raring to go, while Dallas was weary and ready to go home. It was only fitting then, that this was a backwards game for Kobe.

Bryant’s modus operandi has been to be a facilitator in the first quarter, look for just enough shots in the second quarter to keep the defense honest, fire away after the intermission and then simply take over the game in the final 12 minutes.

But in the game at hand, with the Lakers leading by 40 points after three quarters, Kobe spent the rest of the game on the bench.

In the third quarter, Kobe put up a single shot — a 3-pointer on a semi-fast break that misfired.

In the second quarter, Kobe took only four shots, making two in early offensive situations. One particular play midway through the period illustrated his mind-set: After a steal, Kobe led the way on a three-on-none fastbreak. But instead of throwing down the uncontested dunk, he flipped the ball to a trailing Shannon Brown and let him do the honors.

Indeed, we only saw Killer Kobe in the opening quarter. That’s when he attacked the basket at every opportunity, shot 4-for-7 and played his normal super-aggressive defense. After the Lakers had gotten off to slow starts in their previous six games — against Sacramento twice, Golden State, Phoenix, Cleveland and Oklahoma City — Kobe made sure that the Mavs would be put away ASAP.

In essence, Kobe played the opening minutes as though they were the closing minutes of a tight game. His intensity only increased after Pau Gasol went down with a strained left hamstring seven minutes into the game. And instead of winning at the buzzer, the Lakers actually took firm control of the game from the get-go, jumping out to a 30-13 margin after the first quarter.

For sure, Kobe’s supporting cast had glittering numbers. Jordan Farmar had 24 points. Shannon Brown and Sasha Vujacic each tallied 11. After doing nothing in the opening period, Andrew Bynum wound up with 19 points on 8-for-8 shooting. Even Adam Morrison checked in with six points 3-for-3 shooting.

In the end, Kobe’s scoring stats weren’t very impressive — 15 points on 6-for-12. But his nine first-quarter points and his game-high total of eight assists give a hint of his determination to get the Lakers off and running.

Some games are won at the end, and some are won at the start. And Kobe Bryant can get the job done either way.

Straight shooting

• Darko Milicic has at last unequivocally said he'll play overseas next season. He also stated he came to the NBA to play, but his various coaches simply refused to let him play — not mentioning he simply lacked the drive and the skills to play at this level.

Milicic expressed his desire — nay, his demand — that whatever team he does join over there, he wants the offense to always go through him. But the only way this could happen would be if Milicic signed with a team in Easter Island or Fiji.

• The Knicks have made no secret about their wish to trade Jared Jeffries in order to free up more salary-cap room for the offseason free-agent market. I fully understand business is business, but it does seem somewhat foolish for New York to move the only defensive-minded player on its roster for the sake of a LeBron James dream that might never come true.

• Flip Saunders has publicly complained his team needs a new "mind-set." But what the Wizards really need is new players.

A quick peek behind the black curtain reveals the wizard behind the Wizards is at worst a fraud and at best merely incompetent. How else to explain Ernie Grunfeld's insistence that stocking and restocking the roster with so many shooters and scorers would produce a truly competitive team? And Grunfeld's biggest mistake was reckoning that Gilbert "Quick Draw" Arenas was a point guard.

As a result, Saunders is in a no-win situation with a no-win club.

• Has Marcus Banks finally gotten his head and his game together? There are few point guards in the NBA who can match his overall talent in every aspect of the game. In his previous six years in the league, Banks' major problem has been his prickly attitude toward teammates, coaches and the media.

But if he has seen the light, then the Raptors will be able to support Jose Calderon with the best backup point in the NBA.

• There are only two possible reasons why Kyrylo Fesenko and Hamed Haddadi are in the NBA. Their status has been ordered (and paid for) by the State Department to foster international good will. Or they each have in their possession photos of their coaches or general managers in compromising positions.

Vox Populi

It seems to me that today's players accrue more down time due to injuries than their predecessors in the '70s and '80s. Is this true? If so, then why? — Ron Langworthy

I think it is true for the following reasons:

Today's players are bigger and quicker, but the court is the same size as it has always been. With more beef on the hoof, there's less free space, which means an increase in body contact — which, in turn, makes (relative) smalls much more vulnerable.

Although the players are larger, there's little difference in the size of point guards' knees and centers' knees. The one-footed changes of direction that are absolutely necessary in the faster-paced games put an enormous amount of strain on everybody's knees — hence all the micro-fracture procedures.

In general, the modern-day NBA player also has better hops then his predecessors. The higher a player jumps, the longer he's airborne, which gives all of the other players more time to get to where the action is. This results in even less free space in which the leaper can safely land.

Plus, the higher the jump, the more gravity will affect the landing. That's why there are so many stress fractures nowadays.

Moreover, as the level of competition is raised and the financial rewards increase, it's incumbent on the modern-day player to stay in tip-top shape all year round. This means more offseason scrimmages and more repetitive drills to improve weaknesses, which also increases the possibility of injuries.

Unfortunately, as players get bigger, better and faster and as more coaches choose up-tempo game plans, the plague of injuries will only get worse.

Travels with Charley

When I taught junior high school English in upstate New York, I scratched my basketball jones by playing in a highly competitive city league. Most of the players had been outstanding high school hoopers, and some had played in big-time college programs. The strongest guy in the league was Dale Memmelaar, who had recently retired as a Pro Bowl offensive lineman in the NFL. Everybody, including me, moved in wide circles around him.

We were sponsored by a local electrical supply store and had a really good squad. Jimmy Puma was the point guard, one of the best I've ever played with. Charlie Springstead was a reliable jump shooter. Charlie's brother, Don, was a banger. I did most of the scoring, but the best player on the team was Gary Billman (not his real name).

Gary was a lean 6 feet 7, a jumper, a runner and a terrific shooter. Trouble was he showed up for only every other game, often displaying the ill effects of some heavy-duty, late-night partying. But even when he was half in the bag, Gary was always a plus factor for us.

Anyway, on the afternoon of the third and deciding game of the league championship playoffs, Springstead called to say Gary had been in an altercation in a bar two nights previous and was in jail. Even worse, someone had smashed Gary's face with an empty pitcher of beer, and the lacerations required over 50 stitches. There was no way we could beat an excellent team from Florida, N.Y., without Gary.

What to do?

After making several more calls, Charlie convinced our sponsor to pony up the $500 for Gary's bail. In a subsequent madcap sequence of finding a friendly judge and cutting through red tape, Charlie and Gary arrived at the gym five minutes before tip-off.

Gary's face was swathed in bandages, and he looked more like a mummy than a hooper. But without any kind of warm-up, he simply jumped onto the court and won the opening tip.

With blood dripping from his bandages and some of the tape unraveling to reveal several rows of his Frankenstein-like stitches, Gary proceeded to score 44 points in a 107-81 rout.

When asked to explain his heroic performance, Gary said this: "For two nights, I didn't drink a drop and I slept like a baby. There's nothing like some restful time in the slammer to get ready for a big game."

If you have a question or comment for Charley Rosen, please email charleyrosen@gmail.com and he may respond in a future column.