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Durant leads Thunder over Lakers 118-78

“I like him a lot because he loves the game”. Durant appreciated Bryant’s support after the Thunder’s star broke his right foot last season.

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Garrett Temple scored a career-high 21 points, Jared Dudley added 19 and Marcin Gortat had 18 for the Wizards (11-14).


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The Los Angeles Lakers continue on their tough season, and at this rate seem destined for their protected Top-3 pick, while the Thunder continue their hot start to the season as they sit third in the West, behind Golden State and San Antonio. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were spectators on the bench for the entire fourth quarter, and the largest lead of the game was 46 points. The Lakers’ final road game of the season will be in Oklahoma City on April 11….


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Indeed, that winning mentality is part of the 44-year-old’s nature, and he is unlikely to let his standards slip over the next six months.

“I think the most important thing, the most handsome thing is how does your legacy impact the generation of players to come and the generation of players now playing”. It was very different for the Lakers, led by Lou Williams with 20 points, as it was negatives all across the board.

Lakers coach Byron Scott said after the game that the team looked “scared” and “intimated” against the Thunder and their pair of superstars. Bryant said afterward he’d played through the pain “the last couple of games… but this morning, I got up and it was pretty sore”. “We didn’t play as a team”, Randle said.

Notes Anthony Brown took Bryant’s place in the opening lineup, finishing with four points in his starting debut. Durant and Westbrook combined for 35 points on 12-24 shooting from the field.

He dunked Thursday for the first time this season, an impressive slam in which he moved past Houston forward Trevor Ariza and beat power forward Clint Capela. He said he thought the injury happened before that but added “I’m sure that didn’t help”. But he doesn’t think it will be a long-term problem and expects to play on Tuesday night against the Denver Nuggets.

“He did OK. I have to look at the tape before I can really evaluate it”, said Scott, who said Brown will play more later on in the season.

“This is kind of a new chapter”, he said after practice on Saturday.

Asked about Bryant’s interest in competing at Rio 2016, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo told USA Today: “This goes back early last summer, I guess, or spring – and the concept being that it would be great to end a career, win a gold medal and ride off into the sunset”.

Even on the bench, Bryant remained the focus of conversation.

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Jordan is a given and Hakeem’s inclusion is understandable given that he was one of the most talented centers that the game has ever produced (even though he was beginning to decline production-wise when Kobe first entered the league).

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports