The sold-out Delta Center roared as each successive Kobe Bryant shot, three in a row in a 37-second span, was swatted away by Andrei Kirilenko. Amid the din, the fans seemed to sense it: This was a statement. This was a stand. This was the moment that Bryant's night, and with it the Lakers' fate, would be decided.
   
The fans were right. Now they wish they weren't.
   
Bryant, the league's most unstoppable player right now, made a simple adjustment in his game and juked his way to 40 points, carrying Los Angeles to a 93-87 victory over the deflated Jazz on Wednesday.