Everyone keeps mentioning Sasha's toughness. When did that begin? He learned how to be annoying from Fisher, as well as jack up crucial 3s that he hits sometimes but not all the times. I'll give him that. But he isn't tough by any normal definition. I think it's 50/50 if he's going to continue to be better next year or if he's just playing for a contract. I'd say he's playing for a contract.
He was wide open on the last 3 he hit. Good for him. The time before he shot it when clearly Kobe wanted the ball and Kobe should have had the ball. That wasn't tough, that was stupid. If he didn't hit the last one and if the Lakers had lost Kobe probably would have made him cry by berating him for 2 hours after the game.
BEGIN TANGENT: It's funny - Kobe is "trusting" of his teammates this year, a narrative that made the difference in him winning the MVP over Chris Paul, but in reality he won the MVP because his teammates improved. In fact it seems idiotic that he got the award when most of the turnaround success was based on Gasol learning the triangle so quickly. Yet, in the logic of the NBA media, this validates Kobe and not Gasol nor the bench who made the difference. The other 11 made Kobe better. Kobe didn't make them better. That's why Chris Paul should have won the MVP. He made everyone around him better. END TANGENT.