LA Lakers Wins In Game 2; Kobe Bryant Finishes 39 Points

All-Star basketball player Kobe Bryant scored 39 points and the Lakers pushed themselves away from the Oklahoma City Thunder, 95-92, in Game 2 of their first-round series last night at Staples Center. It wasn't easy, the game coming down to Jeff Green's missed three-point attempt at the buzzer, but the Lakers took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Lakers, however, took another tight one from the Thunder, Kobe Bryant making 12 of 28 shots and 13 of 15 free-throw attempts, just enough to move age and experience past youth and innocence.

Kobe Bryant had 15 points in the fourth quarter, seven from the free-throw line. Pau Gasol was the only other Lakers player in double-digit scoring, finishing with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Ron Artest missed eight of 10 shots and Lamar Odom missed seven of nine shots. The Lakers could have made things a little easier in the end, but Bryant and Gasol each missed one of two free-throw attempts in the final 15.1 seconds, allowing the Thunder to stay within striking range.

On the Thuders side, Kevin Durant had 32 points and Russell Westbrook had 19 to lead the Thunder. The Lakers led after three quarters, 73-69, but the loudest roar up to that point came when Craig Calloway, a 29-year-old from Compton, won $235,000 by making a halfcourt shot before the fourth quarter in a promotion sponsored by The Mirage hotel. Getting the ball inside was part of the Lakers' game plan after they went over video from Game 1. 

 

Rusell Westbrook carried the Thunder early in the third, and Durant scored their final five points to leave them trailing 64-56 going into the final 12 minutes. Fisher, Artest and Odom were in foul trouble and Bryant scored a single point on a free throw as they played to a draw in the third.

The Thunder outscored the Lakers 26-20 in the second quarter, when Los Angeles got away from the inside game of Bynum and Gasol and settled for jump shots instead. Their 17-point lead dwindled to 47-39 at the break.

Pau Gasol made eight of 14 shots, but Andrew Bynum had only six shots going into the fourth quarter. When he got the opportunities in the fourth, he didn't take advantage, finishing with six points on three-for-nine shooting. Andrew Bynum ignited the Staples Center crowd with a monster one-handed dunk over a defenseless Nenad Krstic in the second quarter that pushed the Lakers’ lead to 17.

The Lakers came out blazing against the overwhelmed Thunder, pounding the ball inside to Bynum and Gasol while shooting 54 percent and taking a 27-13 lead in the first quarter. In the playoffs for the first time since moving from Seattle two years ago, the Thunder shot 26 percent, leading to their fewest points in an opening period all season.

However, Oklahoma City settled down the rest of the way, but never got closer than six points against the defending champions, who are seeking a third straight trip to the NBA finals.

NBA Star Kobe Bryant Will Not Play For Final 2 Game

Shortly after proclaiming to reporters Sunday he would play the Lakers' final two regular-season games, guard Kobe Bryant sent a text message at 8 p.m. to LA Lakers Coach Phil Jackson that suggested otherwise. He sat out games last week at Denver and Minnesota to rest his finger, along with a swollen right knee and a sprained ankle. 
 

That means the next time Kobe Bryant suits up will be Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs, an absence a team spokesman said was because of Bryant's four-month-old fractured right index finger. After the Portland game Kobe Bryant told reporters he planned on playing in Los Angeles' last 2 games this week to "sharpen up" against Sacramento and against the Clippers but the 12-time All-Star changed his mind Sunday night, relaying in a text message to head coach Phil Jackson that he "probably shouldn't play the last two games the way he felt," Jackson said. 
 

LA Lakers 12-time All-Star Kobe Bryant, who didn't talk to reporters after Monday's practice, has felt dinged up all season, playing through assorted injuries including a fractured right index finger, back spasms, a sprained left ankle and a sore right elbow. He recently sat out two games because of a swollen right knee, only to return Sunday in the Lakers' 91-88 loss to Portland. In that contest, Bryant scored 20 points on only eight of 23 shooting and missed two key free throws in the final minute. 
 

LA Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has also played through a strained right elbow, lower back spasms and a strained groin at various points of the season. Kobe Bryant ticked past the vaunted 1,000 career-games plateau this season and has played 44 playoff games over the course of the past two postseasons, in addition to his service to USA Basketball in the 2007 FIBA Americas championship in Las Vegas and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

He ended his consecutive games played streak of 235, the fifth longest among current NBA players at the time, because of his left ankle injury, missing five games plus the NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium, a spectacle played in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a basketball game.

"A lot of it I think was Kobe's choices of shots, specifically referring to his guard's 8-for-23 shooting total Sunday, stretching Bryant's three-game shooting slump to a dismal 21-for-70 (30 percent). "He's taken some tougher than natural or normal type of shooting chances and I think that's contributed to his poor shooting." LA Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

Kobe Bryant has an avulsion fracture, in which a tiny fragment of bone tears away near a tendon or ligament. The former MVP has been slowed by the injury since he first broke it in a game against the Timberwolves in early December. Kobe Bryant hurt the top joint on the index finger on his right hand while reaching for a pass along with Minnesota's Ryan Gomes.

The defending champion LA Lakers are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Kobe Bryant was the highest vote getter in the Western Conference. He will be replaced by a hometown player — Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks. Also out is Allen Iverson, due to a family matter, to be replaced by the Knicks David Lee.

Kobe Bryant sprained his ankle when Lamar Odom stepped on his foot during the LA Lakers win over Charlotte. He sat out the next three games, saying his ankle was too sore to push off and run on. The Lakers still won those three games, with Pau Gasol leading the way and improved Lakers defense over all.