Kobe Bryant Stretch Quotations

Weird things happen in the NBA, and tonight was one of them. We had a chance to win the game and just didn't close it out. They made some big shots down the stretch and came away with the victory. Even though (Odom) made a mistake, as a team, defense down the stretch cost us the ballgame.

We played hard tonight. Even the last two games that we lost on the road, we played hard. We just did not come through down the stretch of the game. Tonight was no different. We are a physical team and we got after them a little bit. All around, it was a good victory.

We've been on a stretch here where we have to win these games. And I try to lead by example. The way I go about doing it, and my role here on the team, is to put the ball in the basket.

They executed much better than we did down the stretch and they got big plays when they needed to, and we did not make the stops when we needed to.