Kobe Bryant played his final game at the United Center, the arena made famous by one of his heroes and, indeed, career-long targets, Michael Jordan. But the Bulls got clutch scores from E’Twaun Moore, Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol to breathe a bit and give the fans a chance to give Bryant a standing ovation with 45.3 seconds left.
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Kobe Bryant looked at ease remembering his 20-year National Basketball Association career Sunday night. The Bulls led 21-17, but Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell had a nice close to the quarter with quick moves to get the Lakers within one. Moore scored eight in the spurt.
“Because as a kid growing up in Italy, all I had was video, so I studied everything”, Bryant said. Many around the Bulls were saying before the game they got more requests for tickets from friends than any game this season.
Those who kept their ears as well as their eyes on the Bulls game would realize there was something different about this game. He scored 22 points Sunday, including an early third-quarter stretch in which he hit four straight jump shots, two of them baseline fadeaways that reminded of Jordan.
The game wasn’t without its drama, however, as a late Lakers comeback brought Bryant off the bench to the delight of the crowd chanting his name to come back in.
The Bulls, once touted as potential Eastern Conference heavyweights, are now clinging on to the eighth seed in the East and will be looking to solidify their playoff chances with a win against the lowly Lakers. “He’s a great competitor over the years, but this wasn’t about him”. “You look at a lot of the players that have won championships and they have some of that in them”.
“If I was fortunate enough to come here, if that trade had happened, it’s not a pressure situation to live up to what he’s done”, Bryant said. It’s unusual for a usually strong Bulls turnout that mostly drowns out the cheers from opposing players. The Bulls still were hanging onto a 106-94 lead with 8:25 left. Bryant downplayed concerns about his dislocated middle finger of his right hand, joking “it’s still there”.
Said Bryant: “Having him to do that at the beginning of the game means so much to me”.
“Our competitiveness is second to none”, Bryant said of the comparisons to Jordan.
“This is the last time I’m going to be facing him”. “Because I knew I had the determination to do it and it was either sink or swim”. “I don’t think people understand the amount of impact he’s had on me as a player and as a leader”.
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The purple and gold travel to Milwaukee to face the Bucks in the second half of this back-to-back.
