Bryant shot a three-pointer from the side while falling out of bounds with two seconds left, but the shot was short and Artest grabbed the ball and quickly shot it while turning toward the backboard.
The Lakers passed the Phoenix Suns 103-101 on Thursday night at the Staples Center to take a 3-2 series lead.
"I thought Kobe got fouled on the shot, so I figured it was going to be short," Artest said. "You've just got to continue the play."
"It means a lot for him," Bryant said. "I think for him emotionally, it's a big boost. ... Once I released the ball, I saw Ron sneaking in. I was just hoping that he got it off in time."
Pau Gasol added 21 points and Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 13 rebounds.
Steve Nash had 29 points and 11 assists in a stirring second-half effort for the Suns, who hacked away at Los Angeles' lead throughout the fourth quarter.
The Lakers will now travel to Phoenix for Game 6..GOOOOO LAKERS
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Kobe Bryant was a one-man show on offense, he hit 15-for-22 for 38 points. That wasn't enough to hold off the Suns who beat the Lakers 115-106 in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night.
"Our attention needs to be on the defensive end -- period," Bryant said. "That's second-chance opportunities. Their bench came in and gave them a big boost in getting balls back and getting them extra possessions. We've got to cut that stuff out."
With Nash playing with a broken nose, he made only 3-of-11 shots but had 15 points and eight assists. Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 21 points.
Pau Gasol had 15 points after getting 29 and 23 in the previous two contests. Lamar Odom also scored 15.
"We thought we could come in here and get a game, and unfortunately you know we weren't up to the task," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "But we outscored them from the field I think both games, shot better than they did, did a lot of things very good and it still wasn't enough to win the game. They beat us at the foul line both nights, and that's the difference in the margin of the game."
For the second straight game, the Suns outshot the Lakers at the line: The Suns were 22-for-32 while the Lakers were 7-for-13.
The Western Conference Finals, now tied, 2-2, returns to Los Angeles for Game 5 on Thursday night. Game 6 will be Saturday night in Phoenix.
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The Suns 118-109 victory over the Lakers Sunday night cut Los Angeles's lead in the Western Conference finals to 2-1.
Stoudemire attacked the Los Angeles Lakers aggressively, matching his career playoff high with 42 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
"I wanted to attack their bigs a little bit and get them into foul trouble," said Stoudemire
"He's a great player," Bryant said
"He had a couple of tough games. He wasn't going to come out here and roll over. I saw this coming."
Kobe Bryant had 36 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Pau Gasol scored 23 points, but they had trouble getting much support from their teammates.
The Suns are the second-best 3-point shooting team in NBA history in the regular season. Richardson scored 19, and Steve Nash had 17 points and 15 assists
"We certainly didn't come out to play the way I wanted," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, "and we certainly didn't play the way I wanted at the end."
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The World Cup begins on June 11 in South Africa. As a boy growing up in Italy, Kobe played soccer, and has credited his time playing soccer for improving his basketball skills.
"I'm comfortable [with basketball] footwork because I played soccer," said Kobe, "from changing up rhythms to foot speed, to being comfortable with having my right foot as my pivot foot and my left foot as my pivot foot."
Take a look at Nike's latest ad, Write The Future, and watch Drogba, Rooney and Ronaldo carve their name in history. The Black Mamba makes a special appearance, and shows just well he can pivot on either foot.
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May 27, 2010
