In the spring of 2009, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers were on a mission to win the NBA championship, and in the Western Conference finals, they faced a stacked and game Denver Nuggets squad.
L.A. had taken Game 1 behind 40 points from Bryant, but the Nuggets had come back to take a tightly contested Game 2.
With the series moving to Denver for the next two contests, it looked like the Lakers had a fierce dogfight ahead.
They trailed for much of Game 3, and with one quarter remaining, they were still down 79-71.
But much as he did in Game 1, Bryant bore down in the final frame, scoring 13 points and carrying L.A. to a 103-97 win.
He finished with 40 points on 12-of-24 shooting from the field and 15-of-17 from the free-throw line to go along with five assists and two steals.
When the game was over, Bryant was visibly exhausted while doing a post-game interview on television.
Once again, Bryant was clutch in a big playoff game and put mind over matter to get the Lakers one step closer to yet another championship ring.
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