Spurs host Kobe, Lakers tonight

LAKERS GUARD KOBE BRYANT (on Russell’s last-second miss): D’Angelo said, ‘You made plenty of those. With Kevin Garnett, who scored only six points on 3 of 3 shooting, being in the same position with Kobe, they knew that this was it. This was the last time these two first ballot Hall of Famers would ever play against one another at Target Center. He’s mature enough to understand that, and that Russell, Randle and Jordan Clarkson are the future of the Lakers.

Guard Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives around forward Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs during the overtime period of an NBA basketball game at the AT&T Center on December 12, 2014, in San Antonio, Texas.

Russell told Bryant the same thing as the Lakers’ 37-year-old star wrapped his hands around the Lakers’ 19-year-old rookie. His NBA All-Star game appearances helped him achieve the record for Most wins of the NBA All-Star Game MVP with four awards.

Bryant did not play after the 3:56 mark of the third quarter. He has been serenaded throughout Los Angeles’ road trip, which included visits to his hometown Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit and Toronto, the place he scored a career-high 81 points when current Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell was coaching the Raptors. But Leonard, the team’s leading scorer, finished with only nine points and added seven rebounds while playing 27 minutes.

Bryant has struggled through 19 games this season, averaging 15.9 points a game while shooting just 30.9% from the field and 22.3% from three-point range. Friday is not the last time the Lakers play in San Antonio during the 2015-16 season since the team will be back on February 6 for Bryant’s farewell to the Alamo. Kobe started off the game right by making all of his first three buckets, including a three pointer.

Instead, Bryant decided that the Lakers’ youngsters deserved a chance to take a final shot. The possibilities are many because he’s a second-round draft pick who received a two-year contract when the Lakers plucked him out of obscurity with the 46th pick in 2014. More than a human being or even a basketball player, he’s been an absolute (or just an absolute a-hole if you ask Smush Parker) – an imperfect, unflinching brand that divided opinions like few other athletes have or will.

“I love Pop”, Bryant said of Popovich. “But we’ve got to give them more than that”, he said.

The Lakers’ visit has always been one of the most anticipated for local fans on the Timberwolves schedule, and thousands routinely come out in purple and gold and cheer boisterously for Bryant. Bryant missed the game with a shoulder injury.

In what will either be seen as a breakthrough or simply a spasm of fleeting self-awareness, Kobe chose to sit out the end of their last game against Minnesota. It was the first time this season that an opponent shot 50 percent against the Silver and Black, who have held opponents to 42.1 percent and a league-low average of 88.7 points.