On Monday night, Kobe Bryant faces his final game against the Indiana Pacers. Bryant bent over after making the shot, jabbing at the court with two fingers before holstering his hand like a gun.
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Whether it’s been in the regular season or in the playoffs, the Silver and Black generally have brought out the best in Bryant and vice versa. “It was great. We made some mistakes”. I thought it was good he felt that way. Like most stops in the NBA, Bryant has history here.
There were smatterings of purple and gold throughout the stands only a small minority of it LSU gear. No one fouled the Spurs despite their ability to run out the clock until Bryant fouled Boris Diaw with 2.1 seconds left. Danny answered, but then Lou Wiliams came back with another three for the Lakers to tie it again. Los Angeles, which had trailed by 13 points early in the quarter, rallied to take a 51-50 lead on Randle’s driving layup with 47.9 seconds to play in the period.
“Kobe, it’s been a pleasure watching you all these years”, Popovich said. “That’s what happened tonight and they won”.
The Spurs have covered in eight of their last 10 games versus a team with a winning percentage below.400.
“After that game, I said, ‘This guy is the best player in the world, ‘” O’Neal said about Bryant’s performance in Game 4 during a 2015 episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq.
On the bright side, none of the Mavs’ five starters played in the fourth quarter Friday so they should be well rested for the Grizzlies, who are 30-20 after beating the Knicks 91-85 Friday in NY.
In doing so, he also showed he could still string productive games together as he did for most of his extraordinary career.
Bryant started the week in a duel against upstart sophomore guard Andrew Wiggins and the Minnesota Timberwolves. You have all these things going on and so as a result system changing as well. It becomes: ‘Maybe this is what happens (when you’re older).
“I appreciate the fact that he’s out there competing like he has for 20 years”, Scott said. There is never a flawless game.
“Coach (Frank Vogel) has been telling us we’re a smash-mouth basketball team”, Turner said. He hit three crucial 3-pointers in the final 6:05 of the game, helping the Lakers secure their second consecutive victory. So if I can help him out in that regard, I most certainly will.
All of which overshadowed the Lakers’ double-digit efforts from Jordan Clarkson (21 points), Julius Randle (15), Lou Williams (14) and D’Angelo Russell (12). In a time when point guards are dominating the league, the Lakers need a strong perimeter defender and Bryant thinks Clarkson has the will to do so.
Cavaliers 99, Pelicans 94: Kyrie Irving scored 29 points and LeBron James had 27 to spark Cleveland past New Orleans. Ryan Anderson and Bryce Dejean-Jones each scored 17….
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The retiring Bryant is set to play his final game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, although he is questionable with a right shoulder issue.
