NBA Playoff Notebook: Kobe to the rescue

In the overtime, the Lakers outscored the Pistons 10-2 and evened the set at a game apiece with a 99-91 victory at the Staples Center in the second game of the series.

Bryant scored 14 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter and in overtime to lead LA to the crucial victory, as no team in history has ever dropped the first two NBA Finals games at home and gone on to win the championship. The 25-year-old Bryant logged 49 minutes, dished out seven assists and was 14-of-27 from the floor for the Lakers.

"Obviously, it’s devastating for a situation like this to happen," said Detroit forward Tayshaun Prince after Game 2’s loss. "One of the greatest winning players in the game made a shot that he does on a regular basis, so we can’t hold our heads down about this one even though we should have won the basketball game. We gotta go back home and face a tough Laker steam that plays just as hard on the road as they do at home."

Shaquille O’Neal also had a solid game for the Lakers, as he finished with 29 points and seven rebounds in 48 minutes of action. O’Neal was 10-of-20 from the floor and made 9-of-14 from the foul line.

The All-Stars O’Neal and Bryant came through for LA during a desperate time. They scored the final 16 points of the game for the Lakers to send the series back to Detroit even.

The Pistons were led by their backcourt duo of Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton. Billups, who was 13-of-14 from the charity stripe, ended with a team-high 27 points and nine assists in 47 minutes played, while Hamilton scored 26 points on 10-of-25 from the field and also grabbed eight rebounds.

"You know, they made shots," Detroit head coach Larry Brown said about Billups and Hamilton’s play in Game 2. "I didn’t think Rip (Hamilton) had one of his better nights in shot selection. But, you know, he had to shoot the ball for us and Chauncey kept us in the game with some big shots when we had to make our rally and Rasheed (Wallace) got us back in the game, and we kind of forgot about going inside and that’s all we talked about.

All-Star Ben Wallace finished Game 2 with 12 points, a game-high 14 rebounds and two blocked shots in 43 minutes of action. Ben Wallace is the catalyst to Detroit’s tenacious defense and thinks the Pistons can bounce back from the tough loss

"Not hard at all," Ben Wallace said about the Pistons bouncing back from Game 2’s defeat. "The way we played the first half and to have an effort like we did in the second half, it isn’t hard to bounce back. We just need to put together a complete game like we did in the first game."

The Lakers, who are 3-5 on the road in this year’s postseason, have won five straight and six of their last seven road contests in the NBA Finals. The last time LA lost a championship game on the road was to the Indiana Pacers on June 16, 2000 in Game 5 of the 2000 finals.

"Game 3 is going to be a very important game at their place," said O’Neal. "They play very well. It’s going to be loud in that arena.

The Pistons have been tough at home in this year’s playoffs, as they are 7-3 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in the postseason. However, the highly- favored Lakers remain confident for Game 3.

"But, I still like our chances," said O’Neal. "You know, we just have to go play our game. This is nothing to do with us, we’ve won on the road many, many times and we know how to get it done. We just have to play our game, and if we do that, we should be fine. If we don’t do that, then it will probably be a long night."

The Pistons aren’t satisfied with just being in the NBA Finals or even leaving LA with a split. Detroit knows what it has to do and seems to be ready for the challenge.

"No, mission ain’t accomplished," Rasheed Wallace said about leaving LA with a split. "We’ve still got three more to get then it’s going to be accomplished.

Games 4 and 5 will also be played at The Palace.