Durant, Thunder thump Lakers as Bryant sits

Kobe Bryant sat out of the Lakers’ 118-78 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday at Chesapeake Energy Arena after feeling soreness in his right shoulder. After the game, Byron Scott ripped his players and told them their play was “pathetic”.

Neither played in the fourth quarter. Russell added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists off the bench.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) chases the ball as Los Angeles Lakers forward Nick Young (0) falls to court during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015.

Scared or not, the Lakeshow failed drastically without Kobe Bryant.

There has been plenty of speculation as to what Kobe might try and venture into once he’s done with the Lakers and the National Basketball Association, with options ranging from front office positions to working as an National Basketball Association ambassador to coaching to even playing overseas.

Meanwhile, Ellie Day, the wife of Australian golf star Jason Day, still has concussion symptoms despite being released from hospital after being fallen upon by LeBron James while sitting courtside at Cleveland’s win over the Thunder last week. “It looked like we were just in awe of that team”. The big man in the middle is averaging 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds, but he’s also shooting a team-best 57.9 percent from the floor, thanks to his penchant for taking only the best possible shots – layups and dunks.

“It’s good to see because we realize that’s how we have to play to beat the best teams, particularly in the playoffs”, Collison continued.

Golden State has more than just pulled away from the rest of the Pacific Division, only losing one game through almost 30 games, and even the second-to-last Sacramento Kings are a half-dozen games ahead of the Lakers.

“We just had to stay focus and keep doing what we do every night”, Kanter said.

“Kobe’s fearless”, Scott said. Russell, who scored 12 points in 27 minutes, finished with a -34.

Thunder: The Thunder will play the Lakers in Los Angeles on Wednesday, two days after facing the Los Angeles Clippers on the road….

Scott had announced before tipoff that Bryant would sit out with a sore right shoulder.

Bryant recorded his first dunk of the season on Thursday against the Houston Rockets, a right-handed slam over forward Clint Capela in the third quarter of a 107-87 loss.

He added that the dunk “didn’t help”, but said the flare-up wasn’t unexpected as he pushes through his 20th and final season in the National Basketball Association. The surgery to fix the tear kept Bryant out until November the following season, when he signed a two-year extension that would pay him a total of $48.5 million – keeping him the league’s highest paid player but nowhere near the $32m a year he was eligible for. “I only can speak for myself”, Russell said.