Raptors 102, Lakers 91

“We have to battle from the start to the end, even if we have a big lead”.

Los Angeles let a 23-point lead slip away and was run off the floor in the fourth quarter of a 124-117 home loss to the undefeated Golden State Warriors on Thursday and could not pick itself up in time to avoid a 102-91 loss at Portland on Friday.

Kobe Bryant’s 37 minutes last game vs the Toronto Raptors caused analysts and fans asking “Why?” We should wait until February or March to see how he’s really feeling.

Blake Giffin and Chris Paul were more than out-of-sorts as neither scored in the first quarter and actually set an unwanted record for their partnership. “To me”, Scott said, “it looks like they’re better now than they were a year ago”. They have to be held a little bit more accountable for their actions out there. Are you kidding me?

He’s averaging 16.9 points per game – his lowest average since the 1997-98 season. Even as a rookie, and as a teenager, Kobe Bryant had the confidence to take the biggest risk on the biggest stage of his life. But as a Buckeye, what made him successful was not only his perimeter shooting but also his ability to attack the basket.

“All indications are, to me, from him, that this (two-year contract) is going to be it”, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told National Basketball Association last year about Bryant.

As for the rest of us, I think it is time to acknowledge that Boys II Men lied to us all because I am starting to think it will be easier than they led us to believe. The Lakers don’t need to blindly give Russell minutes in a trial-and-error environment.

Injuries have plagued him ever since, and this time playing through them has been tougher as father time has finally caught up with Kobe. “Both of them could shoot it, could drive it, could pass it. That’s what you’re seeing here”. Lowry was selected to the NBA’s All-Star team for the first time in his career last season, and he certainly will be looking to repeat that this year. We might go up there and we might play like gangbusters up there. He has that privilege. Instead I took a page out of Kobe’s book. Other guys haven’t earned that right, yet. “You’ve got to come out in the third with the same energy, and that’s very hard to do in this league”. “I just go by how my body feels”.

This was too bad for the Lakers. Keep in mind that Russell is only 19 years old. This is the issue.

Next, the Lakers play against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night at Staples Center. 500 during Doc Rivers’ two-plus seasons as coach was after his first game on the job, which they lost to the Lakers before winning their next three. If the three-point shot hadn’t been falling at a 45 percent clip, the outcome of this game might have been a lot different. I love watching them play because they do all the things we talk about. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.

And which big-name free agent in the past three years have the Lakers not tried to sign? Everything should be about the quality of play on the court and not creating a country club mentality. Who is holding Scott accountable as he pretends to hold others accountable?

The way Byron Scott has used Russell has been reprehensible.