This was going to be Kobe Unshackled.

(Or should that be spelled: UnShaquilled?)

Oh, yeah, this would be a spectacle: Kobe Bryant, the best young player in the game, fresh off his All-Star MVP performance, was going to be free to unleash his extensive offensive repertoire.

With center Shaquille O'Neal on the injured list, Bryant would take over the marquee for the Los Angeles Lakers and assault the SuperSonics with a memorably creative outburst.

He'd been building toward this, pumping in 31 in the gathering of the game's best, and jamming a triple-double in Michael Jordan's face this week.

But Thursday night at KeyArena, against a stingy Sonics defense, Kobe Bryant was compellingly mortal.

For the game's first 47 minutes, that is.

Those were roughly 47 minutes that were quickly forgotten with one crucial, swooping, dismissive dagger to the Sonics' hopes in the final minute.

Yes, he missed 11 of his first 15 shots; yes, he scored fewer points than teammate Lindsey Hunter through three periods.

But Bryant's game-deciding play (was he just allowing the suspense to build?) was worth the wait.

With 28 seconds remaining, the Lakers' offense spread wide to leave Bryant isolated out front against a defensive nemesis of considerable portfolio - Gary Payton.

This was classic, the emergent offensive star pitted against the league's most unyielding backcourt defender.

But Bryant breezed past Payton with a crossover and a spin and then split Desmond Mason and Vladimir Radmanovic to ricochet in a reverse layup.

Ballgame.

For a while, fans were left to wonder what had happened to the brilliant Bryant? What ... he's 23 and past his prime?

Nah, it was just a brief reminder that one guy - no matter how talented - can't get it done alone; that a generous application of Payton's and Mason's defense can be an effective flame retardant on even the hottest hand; and also that the Lakers' big man in the middle is still a pretty handy guy to have around.

Even before the climactic play, Payton and Bryant had occasionally locked in those intensely personal individual battles, where egos spark like clashing swords, as All-Stars sometimes do when they meet.

But neither had been effective offensively.

Initially, sensing the effects of Payton's unblinking focus, Bryant seemed content to distribute the ball, finishing with 10 assists.

"He's doing a lot of penetrating and causing defenses to collapse and then kicking it out," said Lakers teammate Robert Horry of Bryant's approach. "That makes it a lot easier for the rest of us to be effective."

But going to a game to watch Kobe Bryant pass the ball is akin to paying for a movie and hoping to catch a scene of Halle Berry balancing her checkbook.

Bryant's current status in the game was reflected beforehand by comments made by Sonics coach Nate McMillan.

McMillan addressed the issue delicately. The last thing he or anybody else in his right mind would want to do is pique the ire of Shaquille O'Neal by inadvertently stepping on his toes.

But when McMillan outlined the task ahead of him, as his SuperSonics suited up to take on the Lakers, he revealed his concern that Bryant might be even more dangerous when Shaq is off the floor.

No knock on O'Neal, who was sidelined for this meeting, nursing an arthritic big toe.

(Before you scoff about a well-paid athlete sitting out games because of a toe injury, you have to remember that his big toe is about the size of your femur).

McMillan's comment was just a recognition that Bryant has now grown into a force that is not only difficult to contain by an opposing defense, but also by the confines of his own team's offensive system.

"He causes you a lot more problems when Shaquille is not with him because he is allowed to step out of the system," McMillan said. "They need his creativity because they don't have the inside presence that Shaquille poses. So, you see more of his talent when Shaquille is not in the game."

McMillan almost sounded as if he relished the challenge Bryant would present.

"This is an opportunity for Kobe to really show what he's capable of doing," McMillan said. "I think people often wonder what the Lakers would be like without Shaq. This is a chance for him to show he's capable of carrying this team when Shaq is not in there."

The fact that Bryant found a way to hand out 10 assists on a cold shooting night, if anything, supports the notion that his game has ripened and matured.

"He's not going to stop," McMillan said of Bryant's attacks on the basket. "That's what makes him a very good player; he continues to put pressure on you whenever he has the ball."

And on Thursday night, a night when he had been otherwise uncharacteristically ordinary, Kobe Bryant needed only 28 seconds to validate his elevated place in the game's hierarchy of stars.