Bryant scored his highest point total of the season so far, as he recorded 31 points in 36 minutes.
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Bryant opened the game by hitting three of his first four shots, then he missed 18 of his final 22, including being off the mark on 12 of his final 13 shots from beyond the arc.
Robert Covington scored 23 points and the Philadelphia 76ers avoided the worst start in National Basketball Association history with a 103-91 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night. They tied the mark of 18 consecutive setbacks that was set by the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets. Despite strong play against the Celtics, Timberwolves and Heat, Philadelphia couldn’t polish off the first victory of a discouraging season. Not only is it the place where Kobe rose to prominence as a high school player, but it’s also a city that he’s had history in as a player, facing the Sixers in the 2001 NBA Finals.
For one night, in front of a sellout crowd of 20,510 that came to cheer Bryant, the streaks hardly mattered.
“I believe so”, Brown said. “When I came out and made three in a row, I could sense, ‘We don’t want to touch him”.
With the crowd standing and roaring in appreciation, Bryant was lauded as a hometown hero.
It’s been only one game since he announced his retirement at the end of the season, but it looks as though the Kobe Bryant farewell tour is already in full swing.
“I appreciate the really, really tough times as much as I appreciate the great times. It was really special moment”. He’s leading the Lakers in field goal attempts with an average of 17.6 per game, but is making those shots at a clip of just 30.1 percent, which is the lowest of his storied career.
Grant had four blocked shots, Noel had nine rebounds, T.J. McConnell had six assists.
Cleveland dropped to 9-1 at home despite 24 points by LeBron James.
You’ll always be that kid from Philly raised with that same sense of pride felt within us all. “I would never whine, ‘Oh, you’re being too hard on me, please stop.’ That wouldn’t even sound like me”.
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Bryant surprised Lakers coach Byron Scott with his decision Saturday night. Russell, the No. 2 pick of the 2015 Draft, finished with 12 points (5-of-14), which included the first dunk of his career – a one-handed hammer.
