Once a team commits to how they will play him Bryant takes what they give him and

Once a team commits to how they will play him, Bryant takes what they give him and turns it against them.And that has to be troublesome to Greg Popovich and the Spurs. He lets it dictate what he will do and what role he will play.Bryant is now the NBA's version of a tai chi master He uses an opponent’s very own force to defeat him. Instead, he lets the game come to him, like he did last night. Although the Spurs have faced Bryant in past playoffs, they have never faced this Bryant.He can turn in an instant from one role to another, and he has the players around him to make it work no matter which role he chooses.He controls the game by not trying to control it like he did in years past. As a distributor, a destroyer, or a decoy?Yes, the Black Mamba has turned into a three-headed Hydra, which makes him more dangerous than ever before.

They had swagger.But they didn’t have Kobe Bryant.How much of a factor will he be in this series?That depends. Chris Paul and his crew were certain they could dominate the defending champs They had confidence They had determination. How much of an effect it will have on the ultimate outcome of this series is hard to say.After destroying the Spurs in the first two games of their series, the Hornets were anything but mystified. That mystique is now gone.The Lakers especially their young, inexperienced players now realize the Spurs put on their Nikes one shoe at a time That may have a considerable effect on Game Two.

But come playoff time, and the Spurs are supposedly a different team.I see that as the greatest damage caused by letting Game One slip away. Chalk that up to the playoff mystique surrounding the Spurs.Sure the Lakers played them even (2-2) in the regular season. Even Pau Gasol missed a few easy ones.Secondly, the Lakers were not only rusty, but came out looking somewhat tentative. It is a rare night indeed when veterans like Lamar Odom (3-13) and Derek Fisher (1-9) would combine for a shoddy four for 22, missing layups and open jump shots. They can tell themselves that they were fatigued and simply ran out of gas.But let’s turn the coin over and look at it from the Lakers' point of view.First of all, their four-day layoff after defeating the Jazz in their semifinal round most likely left them a little rusty.The Spurs cannot count on the Lakers being stale for Game Two. The Suns got off to another good start in that one and grabbed a 14-point lead but lost in the end, 102-96.How much last night’s game will effect the Spurs Friday night is a matter of degrees Their experience dictates that they should shake it off. Stoudemire again scored 33 points, Nash 23 and Shaquille O’Neal 19.

He had not made a three-point shot all year.The Spurs won in the second overtime, and the Suns never recovered.The effect lingered over into Game Two. With only three seconds left in OT, Tim Duncan hit a last-second three-pointer to tie it up. Then Michael Finley hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime. Yet, letting an opening road game in the playoffs slip away had a devastating effect, eventually leading to Mike D’Antoni’s quick exit to the Knicks.Back in the first round, it looked like the Phoenix Suns had stolen the opener of their series with the Spurs.

But that may not be the case.The Phoenix Suns are certainly a veteran team, with a tremendous amount of playoff experience. Can they use the tribulations they had to endure as an excuse? How much will that ease the lingering effect of such a heart-breaking loss.At first glance, one would expect the disappointment to have less of an effect on a veteran team like the Spurs than a younger team. Anytime you are the visiting team in a seven-game series, you know that you MUST win at least one game on the other team’s court.The Spurs had that game well in hand, and only needed the defense to hold to take homecourt advantage. Then on Wednesday evening, they still had to be somewhat weary and disoriented as they took the floor against the Lakers.Instead it was the Lakers who looked weary and disoriented from a four-day layoff, as the Spurs jumped out to a 51-43 halftime lead and then stretched it to 65-45 at the 5:54 mark of the third quarter.That was when the roof caved in or perhaps it would be more apropos to say the Spurs legs caved in, and the Lakers outscored them 44-20 over the remaining 18 minutes.So, the question today remains how much did Game One hurt the Spurs and help the Lakers?Even Gregg Popovich admitted that the loss hurt. It had been a grueling 48 hours.After expending themselves to beat the upstart New Orleans Hornets in the seventh game of their semifinal round Monday night, the Spurs didn’t leave New Orleans until 6:30 Tuesday morning.Their plane, which had mechanical problems, was grounded on a tarmac all night.So, they had to spend Tuesday getting settled in rather than practicing.