Take all the criticism of Kobe Bryant — shoots too much, hard on his teammates, smiles once a generation — and crumple it into a wad the size of a basketball.
After all, the guy plays hard. And hurt.
Bryant had 19 points and two dunks suitable for framing as he poked and prodded the Lakers to a 106-90 victory Tuesday over the New Orleans Hornets at Staples Center.
Bryant somehow shot better with one good ankle (eight for 13, 62%) than he did the first four games (42%) as the Lakers took a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
If the Lakers win Game 6 in New Orleans on Thursday, they won't play again until next Monday.
They can thank Bryant for the renewal of momentum, or hope, or whatever you want to call it.
He walked out of New Orleans Arena on a pair of aluminum crutches on Sunday night and appeared to be walking stiffly when he arrived a couple of hours before Game 5.
To the end, he rebuffed the team's demand that he get an MRI exam and X-rays.
Hey, whatever works, apparently.
"Did it look like his ankle was hurting?" New Orleans Coach Monty Williams said sarcastically.
Out of nowhere, as the Lakers languished yet again against the undermanned Hornets, Bryant drove down the middle and dunked over center Emeka Okafor in the second quarter.
"It looked like he was going to challenge me at the rim and I just accepted the challenge," Bryant said. "[Teammates] know I save those. I don't have a lot of those left anymore."
In the third quarter, as the Lakers started to advance from a 54-51 halftime edge, Bryant flew past Trevor Ariza and beat Carl Landry for a dunk.
Worth mentioning: It was left-handed.
"It was a little stiff, but it loosened up," Bryant said of his ankle. "The more I played the looser it got."
Bryant soon added a double-pump layup after slicing through Landry and Okafor.
"He played young," forward Ron Artest said.
Said Ariza: "Some injury."
Bryant played almost 29 minutes. He wasn't the only effective one on the Lakers.
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