LOS ANGELES, 23 May 2008 — Kobe Bryant scored all but two of his 27 points after halftime, including a go-ahead, 10-foot jump shot in the lane with 23.9 seconds remaining, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 89-85 on Wednesday in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

Game 2 will be played tonight before the best-of-seven series shifts to San Antonio for the third and fourth games. The Lakers are 7-0 in the postseason at Staples Center, where they’ve won 13 straight games overall. Bryant’s jumper put the Lakers ahead for good after two free throws by Manu Ginobili with 1:22 remaining and a follow shot by Tim Duncan with 41 seconds left tied the game at 85. Ginobili then missed a 3-pointer, and Sasha Vujacic made two free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining to complete the scoring.

The Lakers outscored the Spurs 24-13 in the fourth quarter, when San Antonio shot 4-of-18.

Bryant also had five rebounds and nine assists. Pau Gasol had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 10 points apiece for the Lakers.

Duncan led the Spurs with 30 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots. Tony Parker added 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, Bruce Bowen scored 12 and Ginobili added 10 for the Spurs. Ginobili shot just 3-for-13.

Shock Prevails After Tight Fourth Quarter, Beating Fever

In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Deanna Nolan hit the go-ahead jumper with 2:01 left as the Detroit Shock beat the Indiana Fever 76-71 in the WNBA on Wednesday.

Kara Braxton scored a career-high 22 points for the Shock, and Nolan finished with 14 points and eight assists. Katie Douglas had 26 points to lead Indiana, which couldn’t overcome 27 turnovers.

Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer left the mercurial Braxton out of the starting lineup, and the move paid off early as she came off the bench to score eight points in the first period, and Indiana turned the ball over 10 times in the quarter.

The Shock led 22-10 at the end of the period, and still had a seven-point edge at halftime, but Indiana rallied in the third, holding Detroit to 13 points and claiming a two-point lead going into the fourth.

The lead seesawed in the final period but Detroit hung on.