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 Bryant, who entered the night as the NBA's leading scorer at 26.6
points per game, overcame a scoreless first half to contribute 12
points and a season-high 13 assists as the Los Angeles Lakers downed
the sputtering Detroit Pistons 106-96 on Tuesday at The Palace.
The Lakers (5-13) have won two straight for only the second time
this season with Bryant playing the role of setup man. He had 12
assists in an overtime win against Toronto on Sunday.
Center Jordan Hill took over Bryant's usual role of closer on
Tuesday, scoring 10 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth
quarter. Hill also had a team-high 13 rebounds.
"I don't know how much more level I can be passing and scoring,"
Bryant said. "That's my job. Jordan worked extremely hard this
summer on his midrange jumper to the point where he's one of the
best midrange shooters in the league. He makes it really tough on
the defense to lock in."
Earlier in the day, it was uncertain whether Bryant would play. He
felt so worn out that coach Byron Scott let him sleep in and miss
the morning shootaround.
 "I closed my eyes and it was 9:30 and when I opened them again, it
was 2 (o'clock)," said Bryant, who committed a season-high 10
turnovers. "I was like, 'What the heck happened?'"
Detroit's defense tried to wear out the longtime All-Star shooting
guard with a steady diet of double teams.
"They were trapping him every time he seemed to get it in the low
post and mid-post area," Scott said. "He turned and faced up,
waiting to see what they were going to do. They were coming kind of
aggressively but we had pretty good spacing and made some good
decisions as far as swinging it to open guys. He was more of a
facilitator tonight."
Los Angeles continues a three-game road trip at Washington on
Wednesday and Bryant plans on playing.
Bryant had all 12 of his points in the third quarter when Los
Angeles outscored Detroit 35-20 and led by as much as 21 points.
"We were able to get a nice lead and that kept my minutes down,"
said Bryant, who played 33 minutes. "Now it's time to rest and get
ready for (Wednesday)."
Reserve guard Nick Young contributed 19 points, power forward Carlos
Boozer added 14 and small forward Wesley Johnson chipped in 13 for
the Lakers.
Forward Josh Smith topped the Pistons (3-15), who have lost nine
straight and 12 of their last 13, with 18 points, 10 rebounds and
six assists. Point guard D.J. Augustin tossed in 13 points for
Detroit, which shot 36.7 percent from the field.
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"Offensively we just continue to be awful," Pistons coach Stan Van
Gundy said. "We're really messed up right now as a team. We have a
lot of dilemmas, a lot of guys feeling pressure but we're really not
right mentally and we just talked about it right now in the locker
room. That's got to change before anything else does. That third
quarter was inexcusable."
Using a spark from the bench, the Pistons cut the deficit down to 10
midway through the fourth before Scott put his starters back on the
court. Behind Hill, the Lakers never let the Pistons get closer than
seven points.
"Nobody can be happy and everyone is conscious of the situation
right now," Detroit reserve forward Gigi Datome said. "There's only
one way -- working hard, staying positive, staying together. Nobody
has the magic wand to solve the situation, only we can."
NOTES: Pistons F Greg Monroe came off the bench for the second
straight game. Coach Stan Van Gundy is trying a smaller lineup with
Josh Smith in that spot and Kyle Singler at small forward. "Nothing
is set in stone," Van Gundy said. "We haven't found a lineup where
we can say 'Well, that one works real well.'" ... Lakers G Kobe
Bryant was averaging 23.3 points per game against Detroit in 30
career games, his third lowest against any opponent. He's averaged
22.5 ppg against Brooklyn (New Jersey) and 22.6 against Atlanta. ...
Los Angeles swept the two-game series from Detroit the past two
seasons. ... Pistons G Jodie Meeks, who injured his back during
training camp, could be cleared to practice sometime this week. He
was signed as a free agent after averaging 15.7 ppg for the Lakers
last season. "He'll add a lot to our shooting and scoring but also
with his energy and ball movement, those types of things," Van Gundy
said.
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