Kobe Bryant recognizes he's better defending on the ball

The Lakers were up 26-15 with 3:25 left in the period when Bryant went to the bench. Thirty seconds later D'Antoni sat out Steve Nash. That left a lineup with Earl Clark as the lone starter along with Robert Sacre, Darius Morris, Antawn Jamison and Chris Duhon.

By the time the quarter was over, the Lakers were up by just two points.

What happened?

"[Bryant] usually plays the first quarter but he wanted a quick blow at the three-minute mark, so it kind of messed up our rotation a little bit," D'Antoni said. "Kobe is normally out there with those guys."

D'Antoni had Bryant guarding Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings. The effort it took to shut down the high-scoring point guard left Bryant a little winded.

"It's shocking that he had to come out. I don't know if he's done that many times," D'Antoni said. "As a matter of fact, he asked for it. There was a timeout and then he said, 'I'm fine.' I said, 'No let me give you a quick blow.'"

The Lakers coach noted that he likes to have either Dwight Howard or Bryant on the floor with the reserve unit.

D'Antoni marveled at what Bryant has done recently while guarding opposing point guards. "What he's doing defensively and how he's setting the tone is incredible," the coach said.

Bryant certainly left an impression on Jennings.

"For the whole game, I don't think I've ever seen a guard put that much pressure on a point guard full-court," Jennings said. "It's probably the best defense anybody's played on me since I've been in the league. He was constantly putting pressure on me, touching me, and hitting me at all times . . . It was pretty difficult."

When Bryant is playing on the ball, he's an active engaged defender, dating back to his days with former coach Phil Jackson.

"I kind of grew up doing that in Phil's system, defensively just harassing the ball," Bryant said. "He liked to have the lead guard. That's something that I've become very familiar with doing."

Bryant isn't as focused when he doesn't have a challenging defensive assignment. 

"When I'm playing off ball, yeah, it's a lot different," Bryant said. "You're playing somebody that's not very good and then they come out and have the day of their life and knock down four or five threes."

D'Antoni has somewhat neutralized the problem of Bryant playing a one-man zone on defense by challenging him to guard the opponent's best perimeter player.

With a major effort put into defending, Bryant may naturally rely on his teammates more offensively, providing better balance on both sides of the floor. 

The Lakers have won two straight but will be challenged this coming week with games against the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies.

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Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.