The dunk that seemed to signal Kobe Bryant was healthy may have contributed to his latest injury.
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The Kobe Bryant farewell tour made its way to Oklahoma City on Saturday and Thunder forward Kevin Durant was looking forward to facing the retiring National Basketball Association legend.
Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City Thunder looks on during the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on November 30, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. But he doesn’t think it will be a long-term problem and expects to play on Tuesday night against the Denver Nuggets.
Scott said he wasn’t sure whether the dunk against the Rockets is the reason Bryant’s shoulder is sore.
That left the Lakers without a player who can create his own shot, and an experienced team like the Thunder took full advantage of that glaring weakness.
“The guys on the court have to learn from it”, Scott said.
“I only can speak for myself”.
Said Randle: “Not really scared”.
Anthony Brown, you’re not alone. “I want to wait and see what the doctor says after he has a look at it, and then we’ll just go from there”.
Russell Westbrook added 13 points and 11 assists for his 18th double-double of the season for Oklahoma City. Neither played in the fourth quarter.
The Lakers hardly helped themselves as they allowed Durant to post 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting in 29 minutes.
“His ability to score the ball is obviously up there with the greatest to ever play, ” James said. “Nobody wants to get blown out like that”.
“It’s been sore for the last couple of games”, Bryant said. I studied him, wanted to be like him.
The Lakers are paying Bryant $25 million this season and somehow squeezing revenue from it while following up last season’s heinous 21-61 record with an even worse 4-22 start. “I felt like I was able to play through it and things like that, and this morning I got up and it was pretty sore”. “I’ve just got to get ahead of it, just rest it and come back”. He said he wasn’t surprised there was still soreness after undergoing surgery on it 11 months ago.
“That’s a dream”, Durant said.
Bryant drove right, lifted and dunked about as hard as his 37-year-old body let him Thursday, triggering a bench reaction spearheaded by Russell.
He was off to a numbingly poor start this season but improved recently, averaging 23 points on 53 percent accuracy the previous three games.
Bryant’s retirement has been a huge assist to many bottom lines.
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“It was tough to go through”, Durant said. “We talked about a bunch of stuff”. “We talked about life”. The Lakers will have life after Bryant, and how those two guards play will offer fans a glimpse of the team’s future when it embarks on a new competitive cycle. Rondo was traded two weeks later to Dallas and signed with Sacramento last summer as a free agent.
