“I didn’t decide I could play until just before the game, so I was OK with not starting”, said Vucevic, who missed the previous three games with a bruised knee.
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Scott has been sitting Russell late in games at times this season and the head coach said that Russell needs to work on his overall game as he adjusts to the National Basketball Association. It swished as the horn sounded. One fan pleaded to Bryant to play for “one more year” considering his $25 million expires following the 2015-16 season. “The back pain just needs to go away”.
Vucevic’s buzzer beater was only fitting, as it was an evenly matched, intense back-and-forth affair that saw no lead larger than seven.
F Kobe Bryant (back) failed to play in the Lakers only appearance in Orlando on Wednesday. For the night, Russell finished with 14 points on 6-15 shooting to go along with six rebounds, three assists, one steal, one block and three turnovers. Lou Williams, who scored 13 points, air-balled his game-winning attempt, giving the Magic 1.5 seconds with the ball.
The legions of fans waited outside of the Lakers’ locker room eager to catch a glimpse.
SCOTT: “Defensively on this road trip we’ve gotten so much better and we’ve got to continue to get better”. Teams are killing us on the offensive glass. “I just played. When it got to the point where you can’t play, that’s when you have to tell people”. He added 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Lakers.
Lakers: Scott said he had a “pretty good feeling” that Bryant will play Friday against Dallas.
The Lakers didn’t practice Thursday, after flying from Orlando to Dallas, allowing Bryant time to get more treatment.
With reserves C.J. Watson and Jason Smith out with injuries, things only got worse when Victor Oladipo suffered an apparent concussion during the first quarter.
“It’s very unfortunate, but we can’t feel sorry, ” said Fournier, the Magic’s leading scorer this season at 18.7 points per game. The Orlando Magic are allowing 30.9 percent shooting from three and are allowing just 29.1 points from opponents bench.
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Bryant brought the ball into the half court, elevated from the left elbow and hit a shot over two Suns players with 2.6 seconds to go. The Magic allowed the Lakers (1-7) to shoot 49.4 percent even without star guard Kobe Bryant on the floor.
