The cheers began even before public address announcer Eddie Palladino lit up the speakers with, “And at the other forward…” The Spurs shut down the Suns’ defensively while exploiting them offensively in their second game since losing Eric Bledsoe to a season-ending knee injury. One encouraging sign for the Lakers of late has been the play of rookie Larry Nance Jr., who is averaging 14.5 points on 73.7 percent shooting and nine rebounds in his last two games.
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Claudio Ranieri deserves all the credit for developing the belief in that team. “Of course they are”. He said: “We don’t want to put them under pressure.
Bryant showed he’s still got a bit left in the tank. “The recognition at the top of the game, and then as soon as I touched the ball and they booed, I was like, ‘Ahh.’ It felt great”.
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“Honestly, if I could chant for them, I would”, Bryant said. He was stoked to see his Lakers nab a win in Boston.
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San Antonio led by as many as 38 points and never trailed after Phoenix scored the opening basket. There were loud cheers when he missed the free throw after a Boston technical foul.
But it wasn’t just the crowd honoring Bryant.
Bryant even elicted some cheers in the third quarter, presumably from Lakers fans, when he drove past Celtics guard Avery Bradley for a dunk. The squad’s defensive prowess should only increase with the return of guard Marcus Smart, who had six points Sunday in his first game since November 20. While the Lakers-Celtics rivalry of the current generation didn’t have the longevity of the Magic-Bird era or the days of Jerry West and Bill Russell, it certainly had its own thrills with Kobe being right at the center of it all.
Lost amid Bryant’s Boston farewell and the Lakers’ youth movement was the performance by veteran Lou Williams.
Unsurprisingly, Bryant still commanded the attention on what he considered the most significant part of his farewell tour.
Although the game on Wednesday won’t bring the same implications as those fierce Finals battles, it will still be quite the scene as Celtics fans will undoubtedly show their enormous level of respect for one of their most feared rivals. “Here it is a little different because this is the city that drafted me”. The Celtics defeated the Nets 120-95.
Isaiah Thomas scored 24 points for Boston, which cut an 11-point deficit to two shortly before Bryant’s 3-pointer.
“I mean, I had grown up watching basketball”.
“I’m not used to the applause”.
Said Bryant: “I’ll take a 1-1 draw”.
Bryant promised: “I think one thing we can trust as sports fans is you can trust the sports gods are going to line these teams up again”.
This is one of those rare venues for Bryant.
The five-time National Basketball Association champion said that the slight he received from Cowens, a former Boston Celtics star player, helped fuel his winning desire.
“Because of the history”, said Bryant. “I couldn’t have achieved what I’ve achieved without him being in my corner and being able to call him and pick his brain about things; it was pretty cool for him to record that message”.
The reaction of the crowd to Bryant was weird. Trivia: The Celtics selected Antoine Walker in the 1996 draft instead of a 17-year-old Kobe Bryant.
It took awhile last night, but Bryant ultimately proved why. I said ‘listen, it’s fine, it’s fine.
As if it could stop him from playing one last time here. (Dennis Johnson) was there, who I learned a lot from. Bryant heard endless chants of “Kobe, Kobe”. It’s not believed to be serious but it’s the same one that ended his 2014-15 season in January because of a torn rotator cuff.
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Afterward, Celtics players lined up to hug him. Bryant then waved to the crowd before clasping his hands and bowing down in appreciation.
