On a night when Kobe Bryant was supposed to make history, Nick Young stole the show and won the game, hitting a go-ahead three-pointer with 7.4 seconds left in the game to propel the Los Angeles Lakers to a 112-110 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the AT&T Center on Friday night.
The Lakers were less than a minute from pulling off what would've arguably been their best win of the season in regulation.
Despite trying and failing to overtake Los Angeles during the second half, the Spurs mounted a late charge. Manu Ginobili hit a three-pointer with a minute and 22 seconds left in the game to close the Lakers' lead to four points, 101-97. A little less than 40 seconds later, Danny Green capitalized on a Bryant turnover and followed with another three to make it a one point game, 101-100.
Zach Harper of .com joked that Bryant was stealthily finding a way to prolong the game so as to allow himself more time to pass Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list:
Kobe shaving points for overtime like Tony in Blue Chips.
- Zach Harper (@talkhoops) December 13, 2014
Bryant's poor play was again at the fore as he let Ginobili get the baseline and set up for the potential game-winner in the dying seconds:
and ginobili just blew by kobe.
- Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) December 13, 2014
Jordan Hill fouled Ginobili on the shot, sending the Argentine to the foul line for two shots. Ginobili only hit one of the two free throws, tying the game.
The overtime period was similarly competitive, with the Lakers building a three-point lead, 109-106, with 1:47 to go in OT. Tim Duncan then put the Spurs in the lead with consecutive baskets, the last of which came with 64 seconds remaining.
That merely set the stage for Young's frantic heave from well behind the arc.
Young played well all game, leading all scorers with 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting. After the win, he admitted that a little prodding from Kobe helped to give him the added incentive to make the game-winner, per Mike of Lakers.com:
Swaggy P on @TWCSportsNet walk off: 'Kobe talking a lot of trash inspired me.'Young couldn't have been happier to have a chance at a winner.
- Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 13, 2014
Green and Duncan scored 19 apiece for the Spurs in the loss, with Duncan passing Jerry West on the all-time scoring list, per NBA TV:
Milestone! Tim Duncan just passed Jerry West for 18th on the all-time scoring list http://ift.tt/1xcLsji
- NBA TV (@NBATV) December 13, 2014
Tony Parker struggled to find his shot, finishing 2-of-5 from the floor with five points.
The biggest storyline entering the game focused solely on Kobe Bryant and his pursuit of Michael Jordan on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Coming into Friday night, he needed 31 points to pass Jordan to take sole possession of third.
Now into his 19th season, Bryant's been inextricably linked with Jordan throughout his career, and USA Today's Adi Joseph argued that the two are cut from the same cloth:
The influence is obvious. Watch Bryant operate from the low post or on the baseline, then imagine those moves being done in a red-and-black No. 23 jersey instead of his purple-and-gold No. 24. There's a presence, a competitive fire that defines each legend. Jordan's tongue-wagging has been replaced by Bryant's jutting chin and jersey-gnawing.
'I think Kobe Bryant studied , to be honest,' Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson said. 'The way he moves, even after he won his fifth championship he did the same celebration that did (pumping his fist and rallying the home crowd). ... I think he models most of the things he does after Jordan.'
FiveThirtyEight weighed in with a metric comparison between the two, and Jordan won decisively:
Advantage: Jordan. http://t.co/iAm15Le8pN http://ift.tt/1zhy8Ix
- FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) December 13, 2014
While that debate will continue to rage on for decades, what isn't in doubt is that Kobe remains behind in the record books. Bryant only scored 22 points on 7-of-22 shooting. Many wondered if Bryant would prioritize passing Jordan over winning the game, but that didn't prove to be true. His final shot tally was almost directly in line with his average of 22.4 shots a game entering Friday night.
In fact, it was as if Bryant got more satisfaction from stringing the fans along:
Kobe zipping these MJ-record rope-a-dope passes around tonight
- netw3rk (@netw3rk) December 13, 2014
As a result, the Lakers' supporting cast stole the show. In addition to Young, L.A.'s bench played a pivotal role. Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin each added 14 points. Boozer finished with a double-double, grabbing 13 boards in addition to his 14 points.
As if Bryant's attempt to catch Jordan didn't add enough intrigue to the game, this was also the first time the Lakers took the court since Kobe unleashed an expletive-laden rant against his teammates during a practice on Thursday, per ESPN.com's .
While Magic Johnson may be content to see the Lakers tank this year, Bryant won't sit idly by as the team hovers near the bottom of the Western Conference.
His teammates responded positively in the first half against the Spurs, running out to a 54-50 halftime lead. Bryant struggled to find a groove, shooting 3-of-9 and scoring 11 points in the first half.
Luckily for the Lakers, Young and Lin stepped up, combining to score 27 points and shoot 7-of-8 from three-point range. Young in particular started out hot, hitting his first five attempts from behind the arc.
compared Young's hot start to catching fire in NBA Jam:
Swaggy P is absolutely NBA JAM en fuego: he's now 5 of 5 from downtown after 2 more triples.
- Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 13, 2014
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times pondered that Young might manage to catch up with Kobe and on the scoring list:
Nick Young might pass Jordan tonight too.
- Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) December 13, 2014
Leonard didn't suit up for the Spurs on Friday, which meant the rest of the team would have to compensate. The majority of the scoring burden fell to Duncan and Parker. While the former nearly posted a double-double in the first half (10 points, 9 rebounds), the latter failed to score a single point.
As Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News pointed out, San Antonio received little production from its French contingent:
#Spurs from France went 1-for-8 in 1st half vs. Lakers; @tonyparker 0-2, @theborisdiaw 1-6
- Mike Monroe (@Monroe_SA) December 13, 2014
Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News felt the game was playing against type in almost every respect:
On a night we'd expect Lakers to get blown out & Kobe surpass MJ, Lakers are in the game & have offensive balance
- Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) December 13, 2014
Los Angeles continued to strike a great balance on the offensive end and remained committed on defense, building an 11-point lead, 86-75, heading into the third quarter. The Spurs kept getting to within arm's reach of the Lakers, and then L.A. would quickly turn a two or three-point lead into a five or six-point lead.
San Antonio closed the deficit to three points, 77-74, in the third after a layup by Splitter. During the final 1:21 until the fourth, Young scored seven points to help put the Lakers up double digits.
The fourth quarter was essentially a carbon copy of the third. The Spurs continued hanging around, but they couldn't string together enough of an offensive run to take the lead. Then came San Antonio's late run that sent the game into OT.
The Spurs get Saturday off before they hit the road on Sunday to play the Denver Nuggets. San Antonio won't put too much stock into a loss to the Lakers, even at home.
The Lakers also have a day off prior to their next game. They travel to Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. It's obviously foolish to add too much importance to a game in December, but Friday night was one of Los Angeles' best performances of the season. It will interesting to see if the team can build on that.
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