Thunder rout Lakers again, 120-85

When Kobe Bryant announced his retirement in November, it seemed like the day couldn’t come soon enough.

The widest smile Tuesday evening belonged to Larry Nance Jr.

The 2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers season has become the Kobe Bryant Farewell tour, but that description might not be 100 percent accurate.

Bryant kept hammering away at the Nuggets’ players in the post, found the Lakers’ big men for three key assists in the second half and played exemplary defense against a reserve named Will Barton.

“Barton was tearing us up in the first half”, Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “Seriously. What he did on both ends of the floor was fantastic”. In the first quarter he converted a four-point play when he was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit the free throw, drawing loud cheers.

MIAMI – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s jumper with 55.5 seconds left put Detroit ahead to stay, and the Pistons rallied from 18 points down for the road win. “Nothing new”, teammate Julius Randle said with a casual shrug. Bryant has talked about his legs feeling fine and his body feeling fine.

“I’m just Ben, just another college kid playing basketball”, said Simmons of his popularity, according to The Times-Picayune.

“There have been games where I was like, ‘What the hell?'” Bryant said. I feel like I can read everything. There’s nothing about this season to be happy about, but with the franchise putting Bryant in the front of this season and possibly as the only thing that matters as they try to get another lottery pick, seeing him actually playing well and not hurting the team has to be something of a vindication feeling for those making the decisions.

“I don’t think any of us wanted his last season to be like this, ” Scott said. He hosted a meet-and-greet with University of Wyoming fans before the game, many of whom made the two-hour drive to see him. The final score in this one was 120-85, a little bit closer then on Saturday but not by much.

“I hadn’t played against him in a while”. “I would say 90-10 my way”.

Golden State led by 10 with less than 6 minutes remaining before Curry’s second three-pointer of the game sparked a 14-5 run to help the Warriors seal the victory. This also marked his fifth game in the last seven appearances he scored at least 20 points.

Bryant had a rough first quarter with Durant guarding him. “I just had to learn the skills, so I felt like I could always guard every position if I was locked in and being aggressive and using my length to my advantage”. “But he knows himself more than anybody”. There was nothing I could do. “And it’s very easy to forget I haven’t played because of it. My timing is off, my rhythm is off. It was about me continuing my training and believing my timing will come back and that’s what happened”.