And that’s all fans can ask for as Bryant says farewell during his final season.
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The Spurs led only 51-49 at halftime, but they outscored the Lakers 58-38 in the last two quarters.
One night after scoring a season-low 10 points in a 110-105 loss at the Brooklyn Nets, Harden recorded his eighth game this season with at least 30 points. Houston is getting its act together under interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff and topped 100 points for the eighth straight game when it notched a 109-103 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
“It was great for both of us (to see the young players step up)”, Bryant said of himself and Garnett, 39.
Bryant opened the door for this kind of farewell tour when he announced his plans to retire on November 29. “We’ve had some epic battles”. It was largely this trio’s effort – they scored 57 points collectively – that kept the team alive on Wednesday, which Bryant seemed to recognize as he exited the game at in the third quarter.
Despite his success in San Antonio, Bryant is extremely popular in the city and a large contingent of fans came to see what could be his penultimate appearance at the AT&T Center. But the Lakers (3-21) were undone by the Rockets’ exceptional perimeter shooting, with Houston nailing 15 of 33 3-pointers to stymie all rallies.
Howard became irritated both with recent back surgery and Bryant’s stern personality. It was a shockingly competitive quarter, due largely to Kobe Bryant going an nearly ideal 4-for-5 from the field and the Lakers shooting over 50% overall.
“That’s the LaMarcus we need all the time”, said forward David West. “We need him being aggressive, demonstrative, confident and just playing his game”.
If Bryant is ultimately left out of the starting five and snubbed from the coaches’ reserve vote, the possibility of the league’s adding Bryant as an honorary member of the Western Conference squad could be enticing. Aldridge scored the Spurs first six points before Tim Duncan scored with a reverse layup. The second unit came in and helped sparked a 14-2 run to end the first quarter.
Kobe Bryant had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who have lost six in a row and 13 of 14. Clarkson went through some pregame workouts Saturday but was deemed not quite agile enough to play. Black, of course, is now with the Lakers and has gotten a DNP-CD in their last 9 games.
Ray McCallum started at point guard for Tony Parker, who was held out of the game by Popovich to rest for Saturday night’s game at Atlanta.
Spurs win and improve to 19-5 on the season.
“I did talk to him a little bit on the floor asking, ‘Is this really it for him?'” Howard recalled. “Every chance I get, I sit next to him and bend his ear”.
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“It was always a dogfight”, Popovich said. “And it was heartfelt the things that he said out there”.
