Caldwell-Pope scores 22, Drummond has double-double as Pistons beat Bryant

The Pistons led 90-75 after three quarters and it was largely garbage time from there.

Check, check, check and check.

Reggie Jackson scored 20 points and dished out six assists in his fourth-straight 20-point game for the Pistons (12-9). And that, boys and girls, is called “taking care of business”. Although the Lakers lost, one thing that stood out to me, was the effect that Kobe Bryant had on fans. John Mason gave him a attractive tribute during pregame introductions, reciting his litany of achievement while the 20,000-plus crowd rose to their feet and roared.

“His night had a great start… nine points on the Lakers” first three possessions on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point land that had Sixers coach Brett Brown saying afterward that his young team was star struck.

“To get all four is obviously good, ” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said.

“It was tough, because thats the leagues ultimate competitor, and now hes winding down, ” Jackson said.

“I was pretty surprised to be honest with you”, Scott said.

The winning streak saw the Pistons average 114 points a game.

“Let’s just put it this way: on one hand, you have what you just proposed”.

He said this farewell tour has changed him too. Jeter pales in comparison to the legendary domination of Kobe Bryant, who is arguably one of the basketball players to ever, well, shoot baskets-and we all know by now that Bryant has shot an obscene amount of those. “I think I spent an entire year hearing that announcer yelling ‘Detroit Basketball, ‘ and the intensity of these fans was something I’ll never forget”, he said.

But Jackson, the catalyst, clearly looks more at ease and decisive of late. The struggles continued on the interior where Hibbert had no chance of dealing with the strength and athleticism of Andre Drummond on the interior, allowing Drummond to get essentially any shots or rebounds that he wanted. Bryant hoisted up four bad shots, including three three-pointers that could have kept the Lakers alive. I expected him to say that he was proud of his championships, his rings, his wealth, endorsement deals etc. However, Kobe’s response was actually one that could be embraced by all of humanity. Up until that point, he never beat me. “Tomorrow is going to be a challenge, because were going on the road on the second half of a back-to-back and were playing a team thats one of the best in the league on both ends.”.

He deserves better. A lot better. After a hustling Anthony Tolliver raced back, contested the finish, and committed a foul, the befallen Young sprung to his feet and pushed an unsuspecting Tolliver in the neck, resulting in Young’s immediate ejection. “We’re getting on-time, on-target type passes, which tremendously helps your shooting percentage and everything else”. “There’s a lot of respect and mutual admiration that comes from that. Guys are sharing the ball and feeling good about it”.

The Raptors sleep-walked through a loss to the Nuggets before thousands of empty seats to wrap up a five-games-in-seven-days trip on the night Stephen Harper was elected as Canada’s Prime Minister, but the players weren’t the only exhausted ones. That they managed to survive even as their offense bumped along near the bottom of the league rankings. Again, Bryant has been named to the NBA All-Defensive team 12 times. Kobe wins his fifth All-Star game MVP award. It was quite a battle to avoid nodding off in front of my laptop during the second half – after being unable to sleep more than an hour in L.A., following the extraordinary feat and then catching an early-morning flight to Colorado.