However, Russell and Roy Hibbert each missed opportunities to win the game in overtime, as L.A. fell in Minnesota, 123-122.
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Russell, in particular, rose to the moment by scoring 21 of his career-high 23 points in the second half. We know what we mean to this team, so we know that we’re gonna be out there.
As time expired, Bryant ran over to give San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich a long hug, and the longtime competitors spoke for a couple of minutes.
Clarkson, who played at Tulsa for two seasons and at Missouri for one before turning pro, hit 5 of 9 field-goal attempts and finished with 11 points, three rebounds, four assists and only one turnover in 29 minutes against the Spurs.
Rookie of the Year candidate Karl-Anthony Towns finished the game with a strong performance again by recording 26 points and 14 rebounds. Selected 24th by Cleveland before being traded to Minnesota on draft night, Jones had one point and one assist in two games for the Timberwolves this season….
More than 18,000 fans spent the last four minutes chanting “We Want Kobe!” in an effort to soak up as much of the Lakers star as they could.
“I’ve played 20 years, I’m not really trippin’ about minutes and things like that; doesn’t really matter to me.”
“It was great, for both of us, it was great (to see the young players step up)”, Bryant said of himself and Garnett. The first question on everyone’s mind is: Will Kobe Bryant make it in as a lifetime achievement award? This echoes a recent report from Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports which said it was unlikely that Scott would get a pink slip midseason.
But Russell said earlier this week that he still has only called 50 percent of the plays in the past month. The issues with Byron Scott won’t go away anytime soon, nor will Kobe’s battle against his rebelling body become any easier.
Russell poured in 13 points in the fourth quarter alone, while Randle racked up his sixth double-double in seven games with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Martin drilled a pair of threes sandwiched around two free throws from forward Gorgui Dieng.
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Randle had similar praise for Bryant’s sideline skills, even claiming that he would make a good coach someday (Kobe has steadfastly said he won’t coach). He went 14 of 27, including 6 of 9 from three-point range, to lead all scorers with 37 points. After the game, Bryant spoke about this, saying he played “with a chip on his shoulder”. Russell yelled out the requisite “Kobe!” that you can hear on any playground in America, and proceeded to do a pretty solid imitation of the Lakers legend. The Spurs used a 30-16 fourth quarter to blow the game open, making their first five shots of the period. A season of more downs than ups. “They’re probably going to fall on their face a bunch more times, but at the end of the day, they’ll at least be put in that position where they can grow”.
