Kobe Bryant re-entered the Curtis Jackson Zone on Friday night, cracking 50 again when he gave the Rockets 53 points, albeit in an overtime loss. The Lakers were down by 12 with four minutes to go in regulation when Kobe took over. He scored 17 in that final stretch, and with L.A. down three in the final seconds, chased down Kwame Brown’s missed FT and stuck a fadeaway three in front of Houston’s bench to force OT. Just a cold shot; and like every other one he’d thrown up in the fourth, you knew it was going in before he let it go, but it doesn’t happen if Luke Walton doesn’t seal off Chuck Hayes from getting the long rebound; one of those “little things” that guys like Walton get paid to do … Juwan Howard dimed Yao (39 pts, 11 rebs) on the go-ahead layup with 23 ticks left in overtime, and on L.A.’s next possession, Kobe inexplicably traveled coming across midcourt. Of course he reacted in disbelief, but the replay showed he switch pivot feet on a jump-stop. Really, it was more obvious than Jeff Green’s walk to set up the G’Town/Vandy game-winner last week … T-Mac (30 pts, 10 asts) hasn’t delivered too many facials this year, but he got a vintage one in the second half when he blew past Kobe to his left and crowned Kwame despite the big man hugging him in mid-air … Another spectacular game by Stephon Marbury ruined by one mistake at the end (remember the missed FT against Seattle a while back?). Steph gave the Mavericks 43 points in Dallas, trading clutch buckets with Dirk as the game wound down. But with the Knicks down one with a few seconds left, Steph made a lazy crosscourt pass that was easily picked off by Jason Terry. Jet made one of his FTs to put the lead at two, and on New York’s next chance, Marbury drove the lane but had his layup blocked by Josh Howard … Dirk scored 30, plus he hit his free throws down the stretch that kept Dallas ahead … E-mail from Jed during the game: “Eddy Curry really really really needs to learn how to pass out of the double teams. And the Knicks really really really need to learn how to shoot free throws.” Of course there is a really really really good chance Jed was only watching the game for fantasy hoop reasons … Scratch that; Just checked the Dime fantasy league rosters, and it turns out neither Jed nor his Finals opponent has anyone on the Knicks or Mavs … What’s up with this talk of the Mavs inking Kevin Willis to a 10-day deal soon? Of all the big men out there, the best Dallas could do was a 44-year-old who didn’t look so hot on “Pros vs. Joes” earlier this year? … If the playoffs started today, Suns/Nuggets would be a first-round matchup (and definitely the most exciting of the bunch). Phoenix ran over Denver last night, despite big nights from ‘Melo (32 pts) and Iverson (26 pts). Shawn Marion’s been in a slump as far as scoring points lately, but went for 33 on Friday. Steve Nash put up 18 points and 11 dimes … Luke Ridnour had a Nash-like 9 dimes in the first quarter of Seattle’s rout of the Grizzlies. Luke finished with 13 points and 12 dimes, including a sick between-the-legs dish in transition to Mickael Gelabale … You probably missed it — after all, it was Sonics/Grizzlies — but at one point Scott Padgett checked into the game, checked out one minute later, then got into a screaming argument with a Memphis assistant. It must be tough for Scott; not only watching the team he was on earlier this year (Houston) make a playoff run, but also not being able to get tick with the worst team in the League … What you shoudn’t have missed was Trevor Ariza going Lipton on Jermaine O’Neal. Why hasn’t Ariza been in a Dunk Contest yet? It’s pretty much all he does … What Tony Parker (23 pts, 11 asts) and Manu Ginobili (25 pts) did to the Jazz last night was surgical. Perfect backdoor bounce passes leading to layups, drive-and-kicks for wide-open jumpers — MC Tony and Manu looked like they’d been playing together for 10 years … We actually counted (with “Mississippis”) and on one play Tim Duncan was camped in the lane for a good eight seconds and no whistle was blown. Like it isn’t hard enough trying to score on San Antonio when TD doesn’t get to patrol the paint at will … Crazy fourth-quarter finish in D.C. With the Wizards up three in the final seconds and the Raptors needing to go full-court for the tie, Michael Ruffin deflected the inbounds and apparently had a steal that sealed it for Washington. Ruffin tossed the ball in the air — only he left too much time on the clock. And the only Wizard who seemed to realize it was Caron Butler, who made a move towards Mo Pete but wasn’t able to stop him from catching the rock and throwing up a desperation three that dropped at the buzzer. Chris Bosh then took over in OT, getting some inside buckets and swatting Gilbert Arenas‘ layup with under five seconds left to ice it. CB4 put up 37 points and 14 boards … It’s frustrating for us just to watch Minnesota waste monster nights from Kevin Garnett, so we can imagine how it must burn KG. Last night he hung 22 points and 20 boards on the Heat in a loss … The Oden/Durant Bowl from Friday night was ugly. Real ugly. Somewhere in between all the walks, charges, passes to no one and Marlon Wayans-in-Above-the-Rim dribbling, the Sixers managed to pull out a W over the Celtics behind Kyle Korver’s shooting (26 pts) and Andre Iguodala’s all-around game (23 pts, 12 asts). But do the Celtics get the real win for helping their Lottery chances? … Speaking of Durant, he copped AP national Player of the Year. You might have heard the news on “NBATV Daily.” So is Andre Aldridge gonna get fined for talking about Durant? … Is Adam Morrison even in the R.O.Y. race anymore? He’s getting his shine taken by Walter “Fabio” Hermann, who dropped 23 on the Bucks on Friday while Spokane’s Most Wanted saw just seven minutes of burn … Our Final Four picks for today: Ohio State over Georgetown, Florida over UCLA … And this, people, is why it’s the NIT and not the Big Dance. Read the shirt carefully … We’re out like Morrison …