The Lakers and Bobcats were at it. The drama started when Kobe Bryant took a breather in the 4th quarter. This is a rare occurrence for a player that is well known for his combative style and ability to deliver the goods under intense pressure. He managed to sit out the last 12 minutes of the fixture and one might safely assume that this would negatively impact on his team which relies on his for his skills on the pitch. This meant that the Lakers had to rely on a contingent of reserves who are not able to bring the very best out on the pitch. Nevertheless their superior class showed as they were able to reach triple digits for the second consecutive game despite having to cope with the absence of their talisman. This is the third time this season that they are managing to achieve this feat.
Grinding through the taxing season
At the end of they day Bryant was able to come up with 24 points which were critical for the team in terms of removing any hopes of a comeback. This meant that he was able to make 9 out of 21 shots. The dramatic action happened within less than half an hour. Of course some might have assumed that his initial foray would mean that he was going to hammer the opponents. In the end they had to settle for something altogether modest. After the first quarter Kobe was sitting on 18 points and if you followed the laws of averages then it was likely that he was going to continue with the great form that had been displayed so far. On Sunday Kobe Bryant had to play all the 24 second half minutes as his team recorded a narrow victory over the Minnesota team.
Andrew Bynum was in the center and he managed to add another 20 points to the tally. His rebounds came up to 11. Ten points came from Pau Gasol who is fast building a reputation for lightning speed. The Lakers were suffering a bench that was simply not living up to expectations. Therefore they were delighted for tender mercies when the score started to go their way. The ebb and flow of the match was exhilarating because early starters were fading pretty fast. Troy Murphy joined Andrew Goudelock on the play list. By the end the Lakers had an 83-62 lead which meant that the game appeared to be out of reach for the losing side. A three pointer came from Murphy and this was then accompanied by precious points to the tune of 12. The totally combined for the bench was 48 and these are figures that are going to bring a smile to the Lakers managers.
For once the match was not all about the stars. Fans come to watch everybody that is participating and not to have a running commentary about the exploits of Kobe Bryant. Perhaps that is why the game ended up being rather entertaining despite the best efforts of the commentators to describe the mundane lives of the participants.
