Knicks beat Lakers, spoil Kobe’s potential MSG finale

NY Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) embraces Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) at the end of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in NY, Sunday, November 8, 2015.

The Los Angeles Lakers scheduled a second meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge, in which the organization’s general manager Mitch Kupchak and head coach Byron Scott went over in detail how they planned to use the power forward in Byron Scott’s system, but it was little too late.

Dwight Powell recorded a double-double with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds off Dallas’ bench, and Deron Williams had a respectable night with 13 points, seven assists, and three steals. He hit his first three shots and finished with 19 points while playing a season-high 32:25. “We’re not reaping the benefits of that right now, but I think in the long run we will… You know, we don’t have the luxury of going through the schedule and looking like, ‘OK, that one, that one, that one.’ We need all of them, especially while we’re trying to find ourselves as far as rotation and health and all that”. And that’s the key.

There was apparently a few confusion regarding Bryant’s status, as Sefko previously reported that the veteran had been ruled out for Friday’s game. “You’ve got to fall down every now and then and get back up”.

The 6-6 Bryant even had a moment in the second quarter when he tried to defend the 7-0, 37-year-old Dirk Nowitzki in the low post.

One would think that the return of Kobe Bryant would somehow help the Lakers’ cause, but the outcome remained the same. The Lakers wrap up a five-game road trip and entered Friday’s game on a three-game losing skid….

Bryant said he has encouraged his young teammates to “stay with the process”. “So now we just got to get our offense fantastic”.

While Pachulia had his best game of the season, Dirk Nowitzki, fresh off a 31-point outing, had his worst game of the season. It is premature to count the Lakers off in making it into the eighth seed in the Western Conference, but if they continue to struggle on the defensive end, then this team will start their vacation early.

“He said, ‘You look like you’re ready to kill somebody, ‘” Scott old the LA Times. “It’s amusing because there’s a lot of Mavs fans that normally heckle the (mess) out of me”.

“I mean, it’s a big game because it’s the next game”, Mavs starting swingman Wesley Matthews explained. “I was kind of mad about how it got spun around that it was him that I had problems with – when actually he was the best part of it”.