And 0 for 18 to begin this one.
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“I wasn’t expecting that type of reaction, ovation”, said Bryant, who scored 20 points on 7-for-26 shooting for the Lakers (2-15).
It wasn’t just the Philly fans that were enjoying the moment, either; some of the 76er players seemed to be caught up in Bryant’s now larger than life like aura. And it was legitimately fun to watch.
“It was kind of sad actually”, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar James said.
The Wizards badly underperformed throughout the early stages of this season, but they belted the best team in the East on its home floor after dropping three of four to the Cavs last season. “It was emotional and deeply appreciated beyond belief and really, really special”.
Scott said it was too many from long distance and repeated a refrain that Bryant would be better taking shots from the post, or near the free-throw line.
The Magic almost led the entire game, Minnesota scored the first basket of the game but was never able to regain the lead after that.
The “retirement tour” passes through DC tonight, where Bryant will play his last game at the Verizon Center against the Wizards (barring an extremely improbably Lakers-Wizards Finals).
The Sixers play the second game of a back-to-back on Wednesday night when they take a short trip up the New Jersey Turnpike to face the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. “I’m just playing possum because I know my legs ain’t going to carry this energy for 48 minutes”. You see him score 81 points, you see him win championships and I was always rooting for him to win, so it was surreal to see him.
The Sixers shot 43.8 percent from 3-point range (14-for-32), limited their turnovers to 16 and held a 44-34 edge in points in the paint and a 12-0 advantage in fast-break points.
Bryant meanwhile was the top scorer for the Lakers, producing 20 points, two assists and 5 rebounds.
Robert Covington led the Sixers with a game-high 23 points. “In watching him play, it’s evident that this is a tough game for him to play right now”, West said. With 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter, he hit a 3-pointer to put the Lakers up by two.
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Roy Hibbert got into an altercation with Isaiah Canaan, Jerami Grant, and JaKarr Sampson that surprisingly did not result in any ejections, despite Hibbert shoving a referee and Noel joining the scuffle from the bench, although all three of Hibbert, Sampson and Canaan did receive technical fouls for the scuffle.
