Kobe’s OT buzzer‑beater anniversary
- On April 30, 2006, Kobe Bryant beat Phoenix at the overtime buzzer, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a 99-98 Game 4 win. - Bryant tied the game late in regulation, then scored the winner in overtime as Los Angeles moved ahead 3-1 in the series. - Phoenix still won the series in seven after taking Games 5, 6 and 7. (nba.com)
Kobe Bryant’s April 30, 2006 shot against Phoenix was not just a buzzer-beater. It gave the Los Angeles Lakers a 99-98 overtime win and a 3-1 lead in the first-round series. (nba.com) (espn.com) The sequence is replayed every spring because Bryant delivered twice in the final seconds. He drove for the tying basket at the end of regulation, then hit the overtime winner as time expired at Staples Center. (sportingnews.com) (nba.com) The game itself was tight all night. NBA.com logged 16 lead changes and 14 ties, and the Lakers won despite committing 17 turnovers to Phoenix’s 10. (nba.com) Bryant finished with 24 points, while Shawn Marion led Phoenix with 22. Steve Nash had 11 assists for the Suns, and Los Angeles got key scoring from Lamar Odom and Smush Parker around Bryant’s late shots. (espn.com) (basketball-reference.com) The anniversary lands this year on the 20th spring since Bryant’s final playoff game-winner against Phoenix. The clip endures partly because it looked like a series-turning moment for a seventh-seeded Lakers team facing a 54-win Suns club. (nba.com) (basketball-reference.com) It did not end the series. Phoenix answered with a 114-97 win in Game 5, a 126-118 overtime win in Game 6, and a 121-90 blowout in Game 7 to advance 4-3. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) That reversal is part of why the shot still sits so prominently in playoff history. It was one of Bryant’s cleanest clutch sequences, even though the Suns and Nash recovered to win the matchup four days later. (sportingnews.com) (espn.com) Twenty years on, the play survives as two moments in one: the layup that forced overtime, and the jumper that ended it. The box score still reads Lakers 99, Suns 98, even if the series did not. (nba.com) (espn.com)
