| All Kobe, Little Allen Authored by Scott Essman - November 26, 2005 - 11:40 am
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Bryant scored 34 points, 29 of them amazingly coming in the final quarter-and-a-half. Though Bryant only scored five points in the first two-and-a-half quarters, he kept his counterpart equally quiet with stifling defense. Allen only scored seven points through the first three quarters. Many of his last 12 points occurred during virtual "garbage" time when the Lakers had sealed the victory.
Allen led Seattle (now a disappointing 5-7 this
season) to the superior record of 52-30 in the
2004-2005 season, their finest record since 1998, the last of their run of six 55+ win seasons that began in 1993. Their march to victory ended last year with a Western Conference semifinal loss to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs. Through it all, Allen was their clear leader.
It has become obvious through the last half-dozen Sonic-Laker games that Allen and Bryant dislike each other, at least on the court. Perhaps it's because the players are so similar. Allen is a born leader and, like Bryant, clearly heads his team on the floor as a playmaking guard. Both were drafted in 1996 and are roughly the same age (Allen is 30 while Bryant is 27). Allen's career points-per-game scoring average is 20.6 while Bryant's is 22.4. But Allen questioned Bryant's leadership after an October 2004 game. Since then, it's been a Kobe-Ray one-on-one battle whenever the Lakers and Sonics meet.
Last night, at least, Bryant had the upper hand.
Limiting Allen's shot selection, he kept the guard in check, which did have the indirect effect of freeing up forward Rashard Lewis who ended up going for 32 points. Alas, it was not enough as the Lakers, behind Bryant's late surge, broke away from the Sonics in the fourth quarter after a relatively close game to that point.
Both Laker and Sonic fans alike await the next round of the Bryant-Allen matchup, which will be March 12 in Los Angeles. |
