Despite losing, affection for Kobe Bryant overflowed as the Clippers paid tribute by showing video for him before he was introduced. That was followed by chants of “Kobe, Kobe”.
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Ouch. Here are five things we learned from the Clippers’ 103-81 victory Tuesday. The Lakers are going to finish the season with 16, 17 or 18 wins. His reverse layup sent the Lakers into halftime trailing 52-44. Bryant was 2 of 10 from the field at that time.
“He is getting his feet wet again as far as being out for a while and coming back again”, said Crawford, whose team defeated the Lakers on Tuesday in the first of back-to-back games between the rivals.
Paul scored 25 points and handed out eight assists in three quarters, and the Clippers beat the Lakers for the 10th consecutive time. The Lakers cut their deficit to seven points four times in the second, once on Bryant’s pull-up jumper. He has been out for (more than three) months.
“I am just a step slow, a step behind”, he said.
Head Coach Doc Rivers greets Head Coach Byron Scott before the game. “I just did not want to put him back in”. “The reason we got out to the big lead that we did was our defense”. Shooting guard Redick was shooting a league-best 47.1 percent (189 of 401) from 3-point range.
Bryant and Rivers shared some words after the game.
“I’m a complicated man”, Rivers responded. “Just, ‘Mad respect, ‘ and I said it back”. “He’s inflicted pain on me personally, and so I’m looking forward to it. Everybody else is lying. It’s the type of relationship you have”. The Lakers and Bryant got Rivers and the Celtics back in 2010, and Bryant was the Finals MVP.
On Tuesday, however, Dooling was there on behalf of the NBA Players’ Association. The crowd, including plenty of Lakers fans, made Bryant feel at home, cheering his introduction and when he re-entered the game in the second quarter. Still, they roared for Bryant. The Clippers gave out light-up bracelets that said, “Thank you, Kobe”. I wonder why. Roy Hibbert and Julius Randle didn’t have a single field goal between them.
A third-quarter surge allowed the Clippers to bolt past the Lakers. X-Rays were negative and he’s probable for Wednesday’s rematch.
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The Clippers shot with great precision, nailing the majority of their attempts via a 51% field goal percentage and dropping 35% of their shots from beyond the arc. The 22 he played against the Clippers seemed like too much. He came into the league for the 2007-08 season, which was Bryant’s 12th. And I looked over there on the floor and Kobe was still on the floor. “Of course”, Green said. “That bothers me, because you’re talking about a champion”. You know, he’s our generation’s Michael Jordan. “I was not playing a lot of minutes, either. One of the top five players to ever play this game”. He never liked Young, and is using the incident with D’Angelo Russell as an excuse to keep him off the court.
