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Kobe Bryant played 12 minutes Friday at Indiana, missed all four shots and then went to the bench for good.
It was all his severely sprained left ankle could take.
Bryant spent two days trying to fight his way back after landing on the foot of Atlanta’s Dahntay Jones in the waning seconds of Wednesday’s loss at Atlanta.
— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press
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[Lakers head coach Mike] D’Antoni said Pau Gasol could return as soon as Monday at Phoenix, and Gasol could be in the starting lineup against the Suns, too. The forward from Spain has been recovering from a torn plantar fascia in his right foot since early February. Gasol spent the last part of the shootaround working one-one-one against center Dwight Howard.
But the focus Friday was on one swollen ankle that D’Antoni hasn’t even taken a peek at yet.
”I think if you look at his tweets, you’ll see it,” he said, drawing laughter.
The Lakers need Bryant to continue their surge toward the playoffs.
He is the NBA’s third-leading scorer at 27.5 points and has helped stabilize his team during a tumultuous season that has included the early firing of coach Mike Brown, a prolonged skid, All-Star center Dwight Howard’s struggles to fit in with his new team, and the death of owner Jerry Buss.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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Kobe Bryant has been playing some of his best basketball since the All-Star break, almost single-handedly pushing the Los Angeles Lakers into the playoff race.
Now he’s facing what may be his toughest opponent of the season.
Bryant is out indefinitely with what he calls the worst sprained ankle of his 16-year career, crumpling to the court with 3 seconds remaining after missing a game-tying shot in a 96-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
While X-rays were negative, the Lakers sounded pessimistic about Bryant’s chances of playing anytime soon, an especially tough blow with just 16 games left in the regular season and Los Angeles clinging to a half-game lead over Utah for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Bryant tweeted Thursday morning that he was undergoing treatment on his ailing left ankle while watching movie after movie.
”Compression. Ice. Django. Zero Dark Thirty. This is Forty and 1 hour of sleep,” he wrote. ”On to the next.”
— Reported by Paul Newberry of the Associated Press
The Los Angeles D-Fenders, of the NBA Development League, have acquired former 2010 first round NBA Draft pick Craig Brackins, it was announced today.
Brackins, a 6-10, 230 pound forward, most recently played for Angelico Biella (Italy) where he was voted to the Italian SerieA All-Star Game. The 21st overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, Brackins joined the Oklahoma City Thunder and was subsequently moved on draft day to the New Orleans Hornets before ultimately landing with the Philadelphia 76ers. In 17 career NBA games with the 76ers, Brackins averaged 1.8 points (30 total points), 1.1 rebounds (19 total rebounds) and 0.5 assists (9 total assists) in 7.1 minutes per game. Brackins also brings NBA Development League experience to the D-Fenders, averaging 19.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 25 career games with the Springfield Armor and Maine Red Claws.
A standout at Iowa State University, Brackins was named to the All-Big 12 First Team (2009) and All-Big 12 Second Team (2010) and received an Associated Press NCAA All-America Honorable Mention nod (2009). In three seasons at Iowa State, Brackins averaged 16.0 points and 7.7 rebounds over 96 games, finishing his career ranked 12th all-time in points scored (1,539) and eighth in rebounds (736).
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Dwight Howard scored a season-high 39 points, had 16 rebounds and was sent to the free throw line 39 times by his former team as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic, 106-97 on Tuesday night.
The victory came in Howard’s first return to Orlando since his drama-filled offseason trade to the Lakers. He endured a chorus of boos throughout, and tied his own NBA record for free throw attempts.
The majority of them came as the Magic tried to employ an intentional foul strategy. It backfired, though, as the All-Star center hit on 16 of 20 attempts in the second half.
The victory was the Lakers’ fourth straight.
Jameer Nelson led Orlando with 21 points. The Magic have lost three of their last four and haven’t won back-to-back games since December.
After a week of back-and-forth in the media following some perceived negative comments made about his former team during a television interview, Howard and Nelson spoke briefly just after the final buzzer and shook hands.
It was a light moment in what was mostly a hostile atmosphere.
Homemade signs jeering Howard with sentiments that said everything from ”Coward” to ”Kobe’s Kid” were sprinkled throughout the Amway Center stands.
Boos rained down on the All-Star center almost every time he touched the basketball. They were followed by louder cheers when he missed a free throw.
— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press
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The number 12 is no longer sacred in Orlando.
The man who used to wear it, Los Angeles Lakers’ center Dwight Howard, also once shouldered the Magic’s hopes of attaining an elusive first NBA championship.
But after eight years of chasing it, and taking Orlando through one of the most turbulent seasons in its history last year, the man who called himself Superman is now the city’s biggest villain.
He returns for the first time Tuesday since his offseason trade to the Lakers to face the jilted fans, front office members and handful of teammates that he left behind.
”I’m not sure,” Magic point guard Jameer Nelson said when asked about his expectations for Tuesday. ”Obviously the atmosphere is gonna be probably a little turned up, a littler crazier than we’ve had so far this year.”
Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and Glen Davis are the only players on the Magic’s roster that have previously played with Howard. With Davis out with a broken foot and Turkoglu serving a suspension for violating the NBA’s drug policy, only Nelson will play in the rematch.
— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press
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Dwight Howard scored 16 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, Kobe Bryant chipped in with 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls 90-81 Sunday.
The Lakers improved to 33-31, the first time this season they have been two games over .500. They also moved one-half game of the Utah Jazz and into sole possession of the No. 8 and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Lakers led almost throughout, only briefly falling behind by two points in the second quarter, and led by as many as 18 in the third period.
Steve Nash had 16 points for the Lakers.
Nate Robinson led the Bulls with 19 points, and Joakim Noah had 18 points and 17 rebounds…
After a sluggish first half by both teams, the Lakers came out hot to start the third quarter. Led by 10 points from Nash, Los Angeles went on a 21-7 run to begin the quarter, capped by a 3-pointer by Jodie Meeks that gave the Lakers a 65-47 lead. But the Bulls responded with an 8-0 spurt to narrow their deficit to 65-55…
Bryant took only three shots in the first quarter, going scoreless in the opening 12 minutes. Metta World Peace was cold as well, missing four open 3-pointers, but the Lakers held an early lead thanks to Howard’s efforts down low. Though he missed all three free throws he took in the quarter, Howard was 3 of 3 from the field for six points and grabbed seven rebounds.
— Reported by Joe Haakenson of the Associated Press
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In the war of words between Dwight Howard and his former Orlando Magic teammates, one significant voice weighed in on the side of the Los Angeles Lakers center.
Howard said that his former Magic coach, Stan Van Gundy, reached out to him Thursday to offer support.
“He knows I would never disrespect my teammates,” said Howard after Lakers’ shootaround Friday in advance of their game against the Toronto Raptors. “He understood exactly what I was saying and that’s what he expressed.”
Howard expanded on the topic after the Lakers’ 118-116 overtime victory over the Raptors, saying, “Both of us, we know how great we were together. I’ve always told him, if we had a second run together, that would be great.
“I would always tell him what my goal was, I want to be one of the greatest to play and he would always push me to get there. So, I respect him.”
Van Gundy believes Howard wasn’t trying to bad-mouth any of his former teammates.
— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles
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Steve Nash went to get the ball because, well, Nash has always had the ball in his hands.
Midway through the first quarter Friday night, as Earl Clark picked up the ball to inbound it, Nash held up his hands as Clark looked at him and Kobe Bryant, who was holding up his hands as well. Clark ended up passing it to Nash, who immediately gave the ball to Bryant and ran down the court toward the right arc.
This is Nash’s new role with the Los Angeles Lakers. He is no longer one of the league’s best point guards, but rather its newest shooting guard.
Sure there are still moments when Nash will bring up the ball depending on defensive adjustments by the opposition, but more often than not, Nash is patrolling the perimeter and waiting for Bryant to get him the ball.
“It’s a big adjustment for me and I am trying to embrace it,” Nash said. “I’m trying to do what I can to help the team. It’s not something I’m accustomed. It’s been a difficult transition in some ways, but at the same time I love being here and I really want to help the team the best I can.”
— Reported by Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles
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It was Kobe Bryant’s 1,443rd game as a Los Angeles Laker. And there he was on Wednesday night, soaking his 34-year-old feet in ice water, feet that helped carry the Lakers to a 108-102 victory over the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena, one that left the 31-31 Lakers 2½ games out the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Because the Lakers remain in danger of missing the playoffs for only the second time during Kobe’s 17th season in Los Angeles, Kobe’s drive to get them into the postseason has become one of the NBA’s most interesting sidebars.
To say the least, it has been a wild ride. The Lakers are playing for their second head coach this season. And their legendary owner Jerry Buss died of cancer at a time he felt he had put together a team, with the acquisition of guys like Dwight Howard and Steve Nash joining folks like Kobe and Pau Gasol, good enough to win a 17th NBA championship.
Let’s say this much. Bryant is doing his best in what seems to be a lost cause.
— Reported by Peter Finney of the New Orleans Times-Picayune