One night after the Los Angeles Clippers handed them a 19-point defeat, the San Antonio Spurs returned to winning form against the Los Angeles Lakers.
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The Spurs come out with the victory in their final matchup against Kobe Bryant. The Lakers’ 119-113 loss to San Antonio at Staples Center featured Bryant posting 25 points on 10-of-25 shooting in 29 minutes marked his final game against a team he met endlessly in the postseason.
But unlike many times before, Bryant could not deliver late in the game.
Overall, San Antonio shot 54.5 percent from the floor compared with 49.4 percent for Los Angeles.
Kawhi Leonard did not play because of a sore calf, so Tony Parker (25 points, six assists) and Tim Duncan (12 points, 13 rebounds) covered for the Spurs (46-9).
“It was always a great game against him”, Duncan said.
In fact, Derek Fisher is the only one besides Bryant and Duncan who has played even in the last seven seasons.
“For us, it was a lot scarier because, in his prime and in some of those moments now, no matter what you did defensively, he still could rise up over you and get off a relatively uncontested shot with balance”, Popovich said. San Antonio is 5-1 since Manu Ginobili left the lineup with a groin injury that required surgery.
There is no better time than right now to play against a Lakers team that ranks near the bottom of the league in scoring defense (106.1). I think they both put championships up there pretty high.
But the current Spurs are competing for another National Basketball Association title, while the current Lakers are competing for the National Basketball Association lottery. “Then they don’t have that security blanket to just say, ‘OK, we’re just going to throw it to KB and see what happens.’ They’re going to have to make some plays for themselves”.
“They’ve been playing well lately”, Parker said of the Lakers.
“This probably will be the only time I can sit here and do this at a press conference”, Bryant said, flashing his middle digit to the media and generating plenty of laughs. “You’ve got to understand what’s going on with the clock and with your teammates”.
Now each time Popovich’s Spurs face the Lakers, they will do so without going up against Bryant.
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In the novel-esque post, filled with hashtags and insults, Arenas laments that tickets to Kobe’s last home game against the Utah Jazz are sold out, a problem to which Arenas offered a hilarious solution.
