When Kobe Bryant was asked how much he trusted his surgically repaired right knee, he replied "not much."

"It's difficult turning the corner, being able to trust it, to be able to pivot and explode off it," he said Sunday. "It's still a little sore.

"You kind of put your foot in the water to see if it's cold, like trying to turn the corner but not really trying to turn the corner and then seeing what that feels like," he said. "If it's like, that felt OK, so next time I can turn it a little sharper, a little quicker. Just trying to gauge it like that."