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 Bryant scored 11 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter and played
shutdown defense in the second half, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat
the Denver Nuggets 111-107.
Bryant tied his season high and helped the Lakers (5-23) win for
just the second time in 10 games. He played for the first time in
five games after missing Saturday's 40-point loss at Oklahoma City
with a sore right shoulder.
Bryant, who logged 32 minutes, didn't practice since his last game
said his shoulder was sore after Tuesday's win but he otherwise felt
fine.
"I didn't do anything," he said. "I rested completely. My shoulder
was a little too sore to be moving around."
His offensive numbers were nearly overshadowed by his defense.
Bryant took on hot-shooting guard Will Barton and held him to two
points in the second half to help the Lakers overcome a double-digit
deficit.
"It was a great test for me tonight to see if I could play both ends
of the floor," Bryant said. "I felt like I could do one, I didn't
know if I could do them both. It felt good to be able to do that."
Guard Jordan Clarkson scored 19 points and guard Lou Williams had 17
points and for Los Angeles.
Bryant, who will retire after the season, received a warm reception
from the Pepsi Center crowd and tried to give the fans a show early
in his penultimate visit to Denver. In the first quarter he
converted a four-point play when he was fouled on a 3-pointer and
hit the free throw, drawing loud cheers.
The cheering continued throughout the night whenever he hit one of
his 10 field goals and nine free throws.
As the Lakers closed out the win from the line the fans chanted,
"Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!"
"There was a lot of energy in the place," Bryant said. "It felt
great to have that appreciation."
Barton scored 25 points, guard Gary Harris tied a career high with
21, and center Nikola Jokic had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Denver
(11-17). The Nuggets have lost two straight at home to teams with a
combined record of 11-42.
"Defensively, we weren't there at all," said Denver guard Jameer
Nelson, who briefly left the game due to illness. "They got pretty
much whatever they wanted."
Los Angeles trailed by 13 at intermission but outscored the Nuggets
32-16 in the third to take an 83-80 lead. Bryant had seven points
and four assists during the quarter to lead the comeback.
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He also took the lead on defense when Barton re-entered the game
with 7:27 left in the third.
"Barton was tearing us up in the first half," Lakers coach Byron
Scott said. "I asked Kobe if he wanted to guard him and he said, 'I
got him.' He had two points after that."
Barton, who finished with eight rebounds, was just 1-for-5 in the
second half.
"I can still play a little bit," Bryant said.
The game was close in the fourth, but Bryant hit a jumper with 6:13
left, and his three free throws with 3:48 to go extended the lead to
101-95.
Harris had a fastbreak dunk and a 3-pointer to get Denver within
103-100.
Bryant hit two free throws and a turnaround jumper with 32.2 seconds
left to make it 107-100.
The Nuggets got a scare when Harris left with a right knee strain
3:40 into the game, but he returned and played 35 minutes. Barton
came on and scored 18 points in the first quarter. He made his first
four shots, hit two 3-pointers and converted a four-point play as
Denver built a 21-point lead in the first half.
NOTES: Nuggets F Danilo Gallinari (sprained left ankle) joined G
Emmanuel Mudiay (sprained right ankle) on the sideline. Gallinari
sustained the injury Sunday in the third quarter of a loss to New
Orleans. Mudiay missed his fifth game Tuesday. ... Lakers coach
Byron Scott said he planned to monitor G Kobe Bryant's minutes
because of a sore right shoulder that kept Bryant out of the
previous game. ... Nuggets F Darrell Arthur played despite leaving
Sunday's game with right knee soreness. ... The Lakers spent a
couple of off days in Denver after playing in Oklahoma City on
Saturday night. Scott said he wanted his team to get used to the
altitude instead of returning home.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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