Marcelo Huertas: Scott says Huertas (hamstring) nearing return

“He says he feels great, so right now we’ll keep staying the course”.

Lakers head coach Byron Scott said after the game that Bryant was not supposed to shoot a lot of threes on Sunday night, but he quickly added that the superstar guard is hard to stop when he is in the zone. “I don’t put a whole lot of stock into it”, Scott said.

With Randle healthy and ready to make up for lost time, expectations are high for the former seventh overall pick with the regular season only a few weeks away. If you win, that’s great. Lou Williams has been the primary backup guard with the absence of both Russell and Huertas, allowing him an opportunity to get comfortable as the sixth man for a new team. “But we also don’t want to risk the fact that if he gets out there too early and hurts it, it will be even worse”. “I thought a lot of our turnovers were just carelessness”.

Sidenote: Maccabi Haifa forward Reggie Buckner told reporters that he “always dreamed” of playing against Bryant and is “just proud and blessed” to have done so.

Or the cagey way he strips this Haifa player from behind. He finished 2 for 11 with eight points in 28 minutes. The 37-year-old missed majority of last season after sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury.

Bryant, 37 and now in the final year of his two-year, $48.5 million contract with the Lakers, had hinted that 2015-2016 might be his last season in the National Basketball Association.

DID NOT PLAY: Lakers F Brandon Bass remained out with a bone bruise in his left knee, as did G Marcelo Huertas due to a right hamstring strain.

UNITED NATIONS: The Lakers also have hosted preseason games against Maccabi Tel Aviv (1990) and FC Barcelona (2010).

UP NEXT: Maccabi Haifa begins its regular-season schedule on October. 16, hosting Ironi Nahariya.

The Lakers should have more confidence, although for their next pre-season match they will be taking on the Sacramento Kings in Las Vegas, which should be an interesting match-up.