Kobe Bryant scores 31, hits go-ahead jumper to bury Wizards

The Philadelphia 76ers said farewell to Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers’ retiring star, and hello to their first victory of the season on Tuesday night.

Kobe Bryant breezed through the Philadelphia 76ers’ locker room and said to no one in particular, “Keep it going, guys”.

Statistics suggest that the Philadelphia 76ers have actually set a record for the longest losing streak in the history of the National Basketball Association, with 28 defeats stretching over last season and the current campaign.

It happened. It finally happened for the Philadelphia 76ers who started the season off at a tough 0-18 losing skid.

It was the first victory for the Sixers since March 25 at Denver. “I studied him, wanted to be like him”, said the Thunder forward. But for one night, in front of a sellout crowd of 20,510 that came to cheer Bryant, the streaks hardly mattered. Sixers coach Brett Brown was asked before the game if rookie C Jahlil Okafor, who has been involved in three off-court incidents so far this season, will now have a bodyguard with him, as has been reported. “Deeply appreciative beyond belief… really, really special”. He’s leading the Lakers in field goal attempts with an average of 17.6 per game, but is making those shots at a clip of just 30.1 percent, which is the lowest of his storied career.

It was the Cavs’ first home loss of the season following a 9-0 start at Quicken Loans Arena.

Bryant hit his first two shots from three-point distance, and three of his first four on the way to scoring his team’s first 11 points.

“Obviously, it was fun to watch”, said Canaan, who scored 12 points on nine shots. And for the briefest of moments it looked like that old Bryant was going to stick it to the Sixers once more for old times’ sake. So every day that I didn’t want to work out or every day I felt like I couldn’t give more, I always thought of Kobe. Thanks to his recent struggles and retirement announcement, media coverage has gone from blasting Kobe for his poor play to celebrating his career that is now coming to an end.

Covington scored his 23 points on 8 for 16 shooting with five three-pointers. He took me to that next level, and understanding how important competition is and just have a willingness to never die.

Oklahoma City Thunder Kevin Durant said in an interview on Monday that he “idolized” Kobe Bryant.

Elfrid Payton had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Andrew Nicholson scored 15 for the Magic, who have won four straight for the first time since December 2012.