You know the scenario. Everyone does. We've seen it unfold so many times for so many years that to expect it to unfold any other way feels sacrilegious.

The Los Angeles Lakers have a chance to win on the game's final play -- and, of course, the ball goes to Kobe Bryant.

It happened again Friday, as the crowd again rose to its feet at Staples Center, anticipating the Lakers' star guard burying a game-winning buzzer-beater, another clip for the highlight reel.

With his team down one with 6.3 seconds left, Bryant followed the age-old script and went isolation against Oklahoma City Thunder swingman Andre Roberson.

Kobe Bryant Maillot,Roberson had contested all of Bryant's jumpers to that point, and he was effective: Bryant had missed 11 of his 14 attempts before that final play.

Roberson was in position, and he contested Bryant's last jumper, too. Bryant pump-faked, trying to draw contact, then fired from 17 feet ... and missed. The Lakers lost, 104-103, and fell to 8-18.

"It was the shot I wanted to get," Bryant said following his 9-point performance on 3-of-15 shooting. He also had 8 assists and 8 rebounds in 35 minutes.

"I was trying to figure out if I had time to draw contact. It just threw me off a little bit."

Kobe Bryant's shot at redemption came up short.
The 36-year-old Bryant looked tired during the game and admitted as much afterward, which he has done several times throughout his 19th NBA season.

"Yeah, I didn't have my legs," he said. "Pretty frustrating. I've got to figure it out."

Bryant shot 1 of 5 in the fourth quarter. Jeremy Lin, meanwhile, shot 3 of 5. Why did Lakers coach Byron Scott go to a weary Bryant instead of to Lin's hot hand?

"32,000-plus points," Scott said, ball-parking Bryant's career total.

Lin gave a somewhat diplomatic response when asked about Bryant's final shot.

"How many game-winners has he hit like that?" Lin asked, referencing Bryant. "I'm obviously rooting for him to hit that shot. I thought it was a good look. It was a very, very hittable shot. That's just a matter of time before he starts hitting those game-winners."

Then Lin added, "I like game-winners too. I would love to shoot some. But I get it. That guy is kind of the king of game-winners. He's going to hit that shot. He'll figure it out. That's why he is who he is."

Lin indeed gets it -- Bryant gets the last shot in Lakerland, no matter what.

But before that last shot, Bryant had missed 11 consecutive potential tying or go-ahead shots in the final five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime.

Four of those misses have come this season.

On one side of the argument is the notion that Bryant isn't as "clutch" as many believe, a point that advanced statistics has made all but indisputable.

On the other side is the notion that, generally speaking, it's just not all that wise to have a 36-year-old who has had consistent fatigue problems take the final shot, especially when said player hasn't really made anything all night long anyway.

That notion has nothing to do with being clutch -- it's just simple logic.

Bryant's legacy is to take those shots, and so he will, but his fatigue is becoming a troubling issue. He said he's still trying to figure out when he has "his legs" and when he doesn't.

"Some games they're there, some games they're not," said Bryant, who's averaging a team-high 35.4 minutes per game this season.

The Lakers had two off days before Friday's game, and Bryant practiced during only one of them -- Wednesday; even then, he practiced only part of that day.

But Scott said he believed Bryant pushed too hard even in that limited practice time.

"He wanted to compete in practice and get guys going," Scott said. "Ultimately, that maybe kind of bit us in the butt a little bit. Maybe I just have to say, let's just take the whole day off, instead of coming out and getting shots or doing some of the things that he did."

Is Scott concerned? He says he is not. Perhaps he might feel differently if his team were playing for anything this season aside from a top lottery pick.

For his part, Bryant said he might have pushed himself too hard Wednesday.

« Maybe », dit-il. "C'est un acte d'équilibrage, non ? Juste essayer de comprendre quand le faire, quand ne pas le faire. J'essaie juste de comprendre bon repos et tout ce que d'autres choses. J'essaie juste d'obtenir un bon système, essayer de commencer à obtenir une cohérence dans ces jambes."

Peut il juger comment son corps va réagir par qu'il ressent quand il entre dans l'arène ? Ou il ne change pas car le jeu va le long et il attrape un second souffle ?

« C'est genre de jouer pour jouer, en fait », a déclaré Bryant.

Il apprend déjà que sa saison dépendra de lui trouver des moyens de conserver son corps frais--si une telle chose est encore possible à son âge, avec les minutes qu'il joue, avec toutes les minutes qu'il a déjà joué tout au long de sa carrière.

« J'espère que je peux trouver quelque chose de nouveau sur demain, » dit-il. « C'est juste essai et erreur. »