Kobe Bryant scores 30; Los Angeles Lakers finally win, albeit against Washington Wizards: NBA Recap
Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, dished out 7 assists and the Los Angeles Lakers broke the habit of losing games when Kobe scores 30 or more points. The Lakers dropped the Washington Wizards 102-96 on Friday night,
snapping their four game losing streak.
“We're not there yet, we're not even close. We're not close to being a good team," said the Lakers coach Mike D' Antoni, who at one point stomped his foot in anger at his 10-14 club. "But can you build on it? I hope so."
Jodie Meeks had a big night. He came off the bench to add 24 points on a 4 of 7 shooting from the three point land while Dwight Howard posted another double-double with 12 points 14 rebounds to go along with 4 blocks.
And finally Kobe had something to smile about after some time,
"I am, actually," Bryant said with a loud laugh, although he went 9 of 29 from the floor. "I am. I am. I'm very, very happy to win one ... game."
Cartier Martin led the Wizards with 21 points and hauled down 8 rebounds, Nene had 17 points and 8 rebounds while Kevin Seraphin added 16 points to go along with 8 rebounds.
Howard scored one out of his two free throws early in the first period to put the Lakers up by 5-2. Bryant nailed a three pointer after that to kick off a 10 nil spurt that landed them to 15-6. The Wizards took some time to get
things going. Martell Webster nailed a three pointer to cut the gap down to 11-15 but Bryant made a jump shot to put the Lakers up 21-13. Washington came back later in the period to tie the score on 25 before a Bryant jumper put the Lakers up.
The Wizards were red hot early in the second period, they opened up with a 8-0 run to go up 33-27 after two minutes of play. They started pulling ahead and Martin nailed a three pointer followed by a three point play to put them
up 41-32. However, the Lakers came back later in the period to snatch the lead and were leading 58-55 at halftime.
A 10-0 run early in the third period cemented Lakers authority on 68-58 and another 10 points spree later in the quarter pushed their lead to 78-64. Meeks scored 5 points at the close of the period to put the Lakers up by 83-69
at the end of the third quarter.
The Wizards were not to be silenced that easily though. They reduced the gap down to 89-92 with 5:31 on the regulation. Los Angeles however kept their cool and held off the spirited Wizards charge. Bryant tipped one in to put LAL
up by 102-93 with a minute on the clock and there was no return after that.
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