Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant Keeps Shooting

“I think I’m showing it a lot more because I’m so damn happy about it”, Bryant said after scoring 19 points on 7-of-22 shooting in 28 minutes. After the Thunder dismantled the Lakers on Wednesday night, Kevin Durant stated that “great players elevate your game, elevate the team, and [Kobe’s] one of those guys” during his post-game chat with reporters. Cleveland, plagued by injuries all season, played with a full roster for the first time.

LeBron James leads the Eastern Conference but is just third overall in voting for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, trailing Lakers great Kobe Bryant and reigning MVP Stephen Curry.

Bryant tied his season high and helped the Lakers win for just the second time in 10 games.

“You have to be realistic about what we’re facing: where we are as a team, as an organization”, Bryant responded when asked how he’s smiling through the losses-24 losses in 29 games to be exact.

The Lakers are still too raw.

Playing up to the level of their competition is something the Clippers have yet to do this season. And the Lakers are finding that out the hard way this season. Although both teams are struggling – the Lakers more so – this game should not be completely ignored. The Lakers had lost the previous year in the NBA Finals to the Celtics.

“I grew up overseas, I grew up in Italy (where his father played professionally), and to be able to see how basketball became such an worldwide sport first-hand…it would be a lovely thing for me personally to be able to finish my career on the global stage”.

As impressive as that may sound, it is incredibly sad.

Kyle Lowry added 17 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Raptors, while Bismack Biyombo scored nine points and grabbed a career-best 20 rebounds.

Neither team wants to be in the news for the wrong reasons, and it doesn’t get more intense than a Christmas Day game between two inner-city rivals to prove who’s the best in town. The Nuggets increased their lead in the second period, scoring 30 points in the quarter to lead 64-51 at the half.

As early as the first quarter, Oklahoma City built an insurmountable 20-point lead with a scoreline of 35-15.

Then in a flurry, only temporarily slowed by hopeless Byron Scott timeouts, the Thunder overwhelmed a disheartened Lakers defense. Two of those victories came against Golden State, including a 100-86 final last season that wound up being a season-low point total for the National Basketball Association champions.

When Bryant has missed games, the Lakers have somehow looked worse. In his last four games, though, he is averaging 25 points on 50.7 percent accuracy.