LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant pushed his fraying body and his Los Angeles Lakers teammates relentlessly through the second half of a vital game until he felt a searing pain in his left heel.
Bryant's Achilles' tendon apparently is torn. His season likely is over.
And though the Lakers held on to beat Golden State, Bryant thinks they'll have to continue their playoff chase without their leader.
Bryant scored 34 points while playing much of the second half in obvious pain with an injured left leg, eventually leaving with 3:06 to play in the Lakers' 118-116 win over the Warriors on Friday night.
Bryant hyperextended his left knee early in the half, but didn't come out while the Lakers chased a victory that kept them one game ahead of Utah for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Bryant then hurt himself seriously on a relatively innocent drive to the hoop, altering the Lakers' season and possibly changing NBA history.
"I made a move that I've made a million times, and it just popped," he said solemnly while leaning on crutches in the Lakers' locker room.
Bryant got the ball on the perimeter, stuck out his leg and pushed off his left foot to drive past Harrison Barnes. Bryant didn't make it two steps before he fell to the court in obvious pain while Barnes was called for a foul, but Bryant stayed in the game long enough to hit his free throws before trainer Gary Vitti helped him to the locker room.
"I can't walk," Bryant said. "I tried to maybe put pressure on my heel, but there was nothing there."
Immediately after the game, the Lakers announced Bryant probably had a torn tendon. He will have an MRI exam Saturday, but Bryant knows the injury is likely to end his season.
Bryant called it the most disappointing injury of his career "by far."
"We worked so hard to put ourselves in position and control our fate," he said. "I certainly have done a lot of work to prepare myself. It's just bad luck."
Achilles' tendon injuries can require months of rehabilitation and recovery, depending on their severity, and the 34-year-old Bryant has enormous mileage on his legs after 17 NBA seasons. The NBA's No. 3 scorer this season has played more than 38 minutes per game this season, more than any teammate.
When asked what the injury meant for his career, Bryant bristled at the suggestion it could finish him.
"I know I can do this," said Bryant, who's averaging 27.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists. "It's fueling me. It's fueling me. I can feel it already."
The fourth-leading scorer in NBA history has been ferociously competitive down the stretch of the Lakers' tumultuous season. While Pau Gasol and Steve Nash have missed long stretches of play with injuries, and while Dwight Howard struggled to get to full strength after last year's back surgery, Bryant played through a sprained ankle and countless minor woes.
"I hate it for Kobe," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I hate it for us. I hate it for L.A., but you have to close ranks. There's no going back now. ... He's just an unbelievable player with a heart, and it is unbelievable."
After playing all 48 minutes while scoring 47 points in Portland on Wednesday, Bryant pushed the Lakers relentlessly forward on one good leg against the playoff-bound Warriors. Golden State got 47 points from Stephen Curry in a dynamic performance, but Bryant led a 9-0 run by hitting consecutive 3-pointers to tie it at 107 with 3:47 left.
Moments later, Bryant's season likely ended.
Bryant didn't know whether his heavy workload contributed to the injury.
"Who knows? It was all necessary," he said. "It's just a freak situation, I guess."
His teammates improbably did just fine without him, with Gasol and Howard getting huge baskets in the final minutes while the Warriors wilted.
Los Angeles (43-37) stayed one game ahead of Utah (42-38) for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference with two games to go. The Jazz hold the tiebreaker.
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