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PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- Kobe Bryant showed he was up -- way up -- to the challenge. Bryant scored 25 points, set up the winning basket and blocked a potential tying shot by seven-footer Arvydas Sabonis as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 93-91, in Game Three of the Western Conference finals. The top-seeded Lakers gave away home-court advantage with an awful 29-point home loss in Game Two. Afterward, Bryant said, "We are going to go up there and do the same thing. It's just a bigger challenge." Those were bold words from Bryant, who had struggled through the first two games, averaging 12.5 points, about half his average through the first two rounds of the postseason. They seemed pretty hollow when Portland raced to a 15-2 lead. With the Lakers on the verge of being blown out, Bryant bailed them out. While engaging in a verbal battle with Portland forward Scottie Pippen, he scored 18 points in the first half to keep Los Angeles in the game, then made all the big plays down the stretch. "Kobe had an excellent game," Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "He made a lot of tough shots and did a lot of nice things --nothing that we didn't know he was capable of doing." "Kobe carried us in the first half and we played them even from then on," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. A lane jumper by Pippen pulled Portland into a 91-91 tie with 1:14 to go and the teams traded turnovers. From the top of the arc, Bryant recognized a double-team and whipped a pass to the left corner to Ron Harper, whose baseline jumper gave the Lakers the lead for good with 29 seconds left. "Usually we stay in the triangle offense, but instead I decided to back the ball out and read the defense," Bryant said. "Then I tried to penetrate and get into the gaps because I knew Scottie would roam. He had been doing it all night long. I knew where to find Harper; he'd been telling me all game that he'd been open in the corner. I found him and he hit the shot." Rasheed Wallace had the ball slapped away and Glen Rice grabbed it. He dribbled into the frontcourt anticipating a foul, but instead had the ball poked away from him, giving the Blazers one more chance with 14 seconds remaining. The 7-3 Sabonis faked a 3-pointer and dribbled around Shaquille O'Neal into the lane. He went up for a runner but the 6-6 Bryant soared and blocked the shot and grabbed the loose ball. Sabonis argued for a foul as time expired. Playing all but one minute, Bryant made 11-of-18 shots and had seven assists and seven rebounds. O'Neal overcame a slow start and collected 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who erased a 14-point second-quarter deficit. "I don't think we get enough credit on how tough we really are," Lakers reserve guard Derek Fisher said. "Sometimes things happen like the way they did in Game Two. People started (to) question how tough we really are, if we're really a championship-caliber team. I think wins like this really prove that we are a tough basketball team." Wallace and Damon Stoudamire scored 19 points apiece for the Blazers, who appeared to get caught up in the trash-talking that has become a signature of this series. Pippen also got into a shoving match with Lakers reserve forward Rick Fox in the final period. "He got frustrated," Fox said. "Obviously he did something I didn't appreciate. Any other situation and it turns into a fight." "It was fun," said Rice, who continued to struggle with just five shots and eight points. "That's what basketball is all about. Each team has a lot of guys that are very competitive. We have a lot of respect for one another but when it comes down to it, you just go out there and do whatever you think will give you the edge." Game Four is Sunday in Portland, which lost at home for the first time in six postseason games. "Now that we played aggressive and played our game, I felt we could get one and possibly two up here. And we want to try to get the one on Sunday, too." The lackluster Lakers trailed by 10 points at halftime and a layup by Steve Smith, who scored 14 points, gave the Blazers a 61-49 advantage with 8:58 left in the third quarter. But Los Angeles rallied behind its defense, which surrendered just 13 points over the next 14 minutes. "Tonight, particularly in the third quarter, we settled," said Dunleavy. "We settled for some long outside shots." Two free throws by Harper, who scored 12 points, gave the Lakers their first lead at 69-67 with 1:36 to play in the period. Los Angeles took a 72-71 edge to the final quarter and a 3-pointer by Bryant triggered a 9-0 burst that widened the advantage to 83-74 with 7 1/2 minutes left. "We just lost some rhythm throughout the game and it just continued to fall off and fall off and finally the wheels just sort of fell off," Pippen said. The Blazers called timeout and Pippen scuffled with Fox as both players received technical fouls. A free throw by Robert Horry kept the advantage at 87-79 with 5:13 left before Pippen came alive, scoring eight of Portland's last 12 points. He made a 3-pointer and jumper around a spinning layup by Bryant, cutting the deficit to 89-87 with 2:25 to go. Rice and Sabonis each made two free throws, setting up the final two minutes. The Lakers shot 53.5 percent (38-of-71) and held a 35-28 edge on the boards while the Blazers shot 51 percent (35-of-69). Pippen had 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Wallace twisted an ankle in the third quarter but returned and finished 9-of-11 from the field. Reserve guard Bonzi Wells banged knees with Horry in the fourth period but played on. With the sellout crowd of 20,135 at the Rose Garden hooting, hollering and rattling cow bells, the Blazers picked up right where they left off. After slowing O'Neal in Game Two, they brought the irresistible force to a grinding halt, holding him to zero points and rebounds in the first period. Portland scored the first eight points and raced to a 15-2 lead less than four minutes into the contest. Pippen began jawing with Bryant, who responded with an obscenity. The Lakers would have been blown out of the building had it not been for Bryant, who scored 14 points in the period, mostly on mid-range jumpers. Stoudamire had a pair of 3-pointers and nine points in the quarter, which ended with Portland holding a 30-22 lead. "I felt like I wanted to come out and set the tone," Bryant said. "I wanted to send a message that we could win here." In the second quarter, O'Neal had eight points and seven boards. But stopper Stacey Augmon replaced Pippen and surprisingly scored eight points, including a short jumper that gave Portland its largest lead at 47-33 with 5:08 left. The Lakers responded with a 7-0 burst and trailed 55-45 at halftime.
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