So where better for Jack Nicholson to enjoy a day of bonding with his actor son Raymond, than a trip to the courts to watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Staples Centre in Downtown LA on Thursday.
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The win came two days after Saunders, Minnesota’s president and head coach, passed from complications of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“It has been tough”. “Everybody outside of our organization can pick us last if they want, but we feel we have a chance to do something special this year and I think the way we played showed that promise”. The gray shirts have “WE” written in big, block letters.
With heavy hearts and occupied minds, the Minnesota Timberwolves hung on to win one for Flip. The final score, on-court action, and even Kobe Bryant’s record-breaking 20th consecutive season with the Lakers, however, were all overshadowed by the moving tribute to Flip Saunders, the beloved coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves who lost his battle to cancer on October 25.
The five-time champion scored 24 points, and set a record for most seasons played with the same franchise.
Wednesday’s game against the Timberwolves was Bryant’s first game since January when he suffered a season-ending torn rotator cuff.
Still, Russell obviously prefers playing at point guard.
Nikola Mirotic made four three-pointers and had 18 points as the Bulls were 14 of 28 (50%) from behind the arc.
After a sluggish start, the Lakers grabbed the lead midway through the first quarter and expanded it to as many as 16 points.
Veteran Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett tried to irritate Lakers’ young power forward Julius Randle in Wednesday’s game, but Randle did not back down, instead sticking his nose very close to the side of Garnett’s face.
Victor Oladipo led the Magic with 17 points.
Randle 5-13 5-6 15, Clarkson 5-12 4-6 14, Bryant 8-24 5-5 24, Hibbert 1-4 10-10 12, Russell 2-7 0-0 4, L.Williams 6-14 7-7 21, Kelly 1-5 1-1 3, N.Young 5-8 0-0 14, Bass 1-4 0-0 2, Huertas 1-2 0-0 2. The Clippers blew a 15-point lead before surviving for the win. Russell will start at point guard and assume ball-handling duties when the Lakers (0-1) visit the Sacramento Kings (0-1) on Friday at Sleep Train Arena.
The game may not have been a work of art – especially when comparing to the playoff-like atmosphere emitted by the previous national TV bout between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder – but, it was fun in its own unique way. Thirteen of those shots were from behind the 3-point line. Forward Kevin Durant added 22 points and six rebounds in the Thunder’s season opener.
Celtics 112, 76ers 95: Isaiah Thomas had 27 points and seven assists, and host Boston defeated Philadelphia in the season opener for each team.
Kristaps Porzingis, a 7-foot-3 native of Latvia who was booed on draft night when the Knicks selected him with the fourth overall pick, sank three of his nine attempts from the field and knocked down nine of 12 free-throw attempts.
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We also saw Rubio push the tempo on offense, which turned out to be quite successful and it’s something the Wolves could rely on in the future.
