The Los Angeles Lakers earned their second win of the season Sunday night, and just their first home victory, behind a 17-point, nine-assist and eight-rebound performance from Kobe Bryant.
Bean logged a season-high 36 minutes in the 97-85 W against the visiting Detroit Pistons, and his body was definitely letting him know all about it afterwards.
Bryant, 37, will rest up his creaky bones tonight as the Lakers pay the Phoenix Suns a visit.
Per the OC Register:
By taking on such a heavy load, Bryant and Coach Byron Scott had agreed during the game that Bryant would skip Monday’s game in Phoenix, so Bryant was already looking forward to a day of recovery. […] “I’m barely standing up,” Bryant said. “My back and my legs, man, it’s killing me. … I’m not looking forward to walking to the car right now,” he said. “Seriously.”
Through Bryant’s first seven appearances this season, Scott limited him to no more than 32 minutes. On Sunday he hit that early in the fourth quarter and never made as much as a move toward the bench. […] “We talked about it during the timeout,” Scott said, remembering he told Bryant, “We might as well play you the rest of this quarter then sit you out tomorrow.”
His ninth assist was to a cutting Roy Hibbert for a dunk that put the Lakers up 82-74. After Pistons’ center Andre Drummond missed on the other end, the Lakers pushed the tempo and Bryant received a pass for an open 3. He paused for a beat, then nailed a 3-pointer that put the Lakers up 11 and capped a 16-2 run. […] Bryant turned and high-fived Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler, the three Americans who helped thwart a terrorist attack on a Paris train in August. The three were honored during the game by Lakers’ president Jeanie Buss.
