LA Lakers Honoring Flip Saunders At Tonight’s Game

His much anticipated return was met with cheers from the Lakers faithful.

Bryant doesn’t know whether this season will be his last, as he has said repeatedly for months.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, called upon Kobe and his consistently questionable shot selections to stay on the floor. His reserve, Darren Collison, was far more impressive, notching 13 points and six assists. It hit the back heel. “We got a good shot”.

“That timing will come back”, Bryant said.

“I think it’s really starting to trickle down”, Newton said.

It was an encouraging performance from Bryant, especially with the fact that he didn’t show any limitations in his right leg. This will continue to be something to watch as the season rolls on. He finished with 14 points on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Martin missed a jumper before Williams missed his leaner. His only make was a corner 3-pointer that pulled Los Angeles within one with 31.6 seconds, but he did miss the potential game victor with time expiring.

“It’s just in practice, you’re used to playing with the ball”, said Russell, who scored four points. That’s no excuse to be bad intentionally, but in the same breath, I can’t think of a better place to start the learning curve than opening night.

They’re all anxious to see how that will translate on the court Wednesday.

One of those Saunders impacted the most is Timberwolves icon Kevin Garnett.

Thunder 112, Spurs 106: Russell Westbrook had 33 points and 10 assists to help Billy Donovan win his National Basketball Association coaching debut as host Oklahoma City defeated San Antonio. “It was a great runner, it just didn’t go in”. Saunders also granted Madsen his most playing time, averaging a career-high 17.3 minutes in the 2003-04 season. “It hasn’t changed. The only thing that has changed is he’s gotten older”. “I’m just trying to adjust to that”. When the Wolves announced Saunders had taken an indefinite leave of absence, and that Mitchell and Newton would assume more coaching and front-office duties, Chief Executive Rob Moor told reporters, “The reason Flip hand-picked these two professional gentlemen exactly for this reason”. “It’s something I got to adjust”. He is making an NBA-high $25 million in the final season of his contract with the Lakers, and while he has repeatedly said he’ll never play for another team, even Phil Jackson has suggested it’s a possibility.

In his first start of his young career, Randle didn’t skip a beat from his promising play from the preseason.

Reserve guard Kevin Martin added 23 points for Minnesota, which rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit. Randle picked up his play in the third quarter with his continued effort attacking the basket scoring eight points in the period. He noted how he spoke to the media longer than he ordinarily would after the game “because, no matter what, I’m going to miss you buttheads”. “I was a lot more relaxed, calm, and excited than nervous”. But what they did do was surround the Lakers with solid veteran presences in the form of Brandon Bass and Metta World Peace. Although they held Minnesota under 50 percent shooting for the game, it was their inability to keep them off the free throw line in the second half as they made 22-of-26 attempts. He coached two National Basketball Association All-Star games and led Team US to a gold medal in 2001.

For the Timberwolves, it was point guard Ricky Rubio who led the way.

Bob Garcia is a sports journalist from Southern California.