Lakers’ Bryant leads All-Star Game voting

The Lakers hardly came close in getting out of this one.

That Lakers’ scoring spurt proved to be a wakeup call for the Thunder, and the boys in blue were able to go on a run of their own to take an 11-point lead into halftime.

Despite a fourth-quarter rally, the Lakers lost to the L.A. Clippers an eighth straight time, 94-84, in a designated Lakers home game at Staples Center.

Bryant looked more for his shot, though his 19 points featured a 7-of-22 clip in 27 minutes through three quarters a night after posting a season-high 31 points on 10-of-22 shooting and five assists in 32 minutes against Denver. The Lakers did end up cutting the deficit to single digits, but by that point it was too late for Bryant to return.

The quarter began with each team’s reserves in the game. But Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers begs to differ. “I try to push them as much as possible to fend for themselves a little bit”.

In the Pacific Division, the Clippers have a 16-13 record to stay second in the group behind the Golden State Warriors.

The first one came from Larry Nance Jr.

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.

Whatever the case, the message is clear: the fans want to see Bryant at the All-Star Game one final time, and who can blame them for that? The 17-time all-star scored 12 points in 26 minutes on a 4-of-10 clip.

The Lakers got within 89-82 on a pair of free throws by Randle with 4:01 remaining, but then the Clippers pulled away with a 3-pointer by Wesley Johnson and a 16-footer by Paul. I’m happy for him.

Reminiscent of a grandpa talking to his grandkids about “the good ol’ days”, it is odd to see Kobe in this light. Bryant’s tally becomes even more absurd when compared to he and Curry’s other fellow former MVPs, as the Laker has more votes than the combined totals of LeBron James (357,937) and Kevin Durant (349,473).

If you are eager to watch this all important match later today you can watch the game through Sling TV.

“I remember when we were losing [in Game 6 in 2008], they played that Journey song [“Don’t Stop Believin'”] and the whole arena started singing that song, and I hated that damn song for two years. So for KB to be so far ahead of him… shows the appreciation that the fans have for his body of work over 20 years”. The Lakers kick off a three-game trip against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.