Kobe Bryant scored 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting in the first half tonight. There were concerns earlier in the day whether he would sit out because of a sprained left ankle. Pau Gasol added 10 points and eight rebounds and Andrew Bynum had eight points. Chauncey Billups led Denver with 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting. J.R. Smith added nine points.
Kobe Bryant will play in his 235th consecutive regular-season game when he takes the floor tonight to face the Denver Nuggets. Bryant’s sprained left ankle was not so bad that he had to take a night off. He last missed a game March 7, 2007 against the Milwaukee Bucks. When asked if it might be wiser to rest Bryant, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said: “I believe in players playing. You know there is pain that you play through in the NBA and then there is pain that could be detrimental to your well being. … A player has to know that if they’re been around for any length of time, what you can go through, what level you can stand and still perform. And Kobe has managed that maybe better than any athlete.”
Kobe Bryant declined an invitation to speak to reporters today. Coach Phil Jackson gave an update on Bryant, who aggravated his injured left ankle during Wednesday’s victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. The Lakers are now calling it a sprain, by the way. Here’s what Jackson said about Bryant: “He’s didn’t come out on the court and practice. He’s trying a variety of therapies to see what will work out. I’m sure he wants to (play against the Denver Nuggets), but we’ll see what that’s about tomorrow. It occured to me yesterday during the course of that game (against the Bobcats that Bryant should simply sit out in order to let his ankle heal). I told him he played quite well. Two-for-12 (shooting), but a lot of those balls were just dropped on him as the 24-second clock was running out. Those kids are so used to giving him the ball at the end of the clock and making him develop a shot. He kept us running the offense. His defense was there.”
Here’s some of what Phil Jackson said tonight after passing Pat Riley and becoming the Lakers all-time leader with 534 coaching victories: “It’s been a really good run. Having this opportunity, to coach this team, is always special. So the fact that we’ve had some great teams, great players, is always a credit to them (the players). My staff, the guys who help me prepare this team for games. All those things are ingredients going into this. It’s not really an individual record in my mind. It’s a team, a club significant thing.”
Phil Jackson earned his franchise-record 534th victory in the Lakers’ win over the Charlotte Bobcats tonight at Staples Center, breaking a tie with Pat Riley. Lamar Odom scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds on a night when Kobe Bryant scored a season-low five points on 2-for-12 shooting and re-injured his sore left ankle. Andrew Bynum helped the Lakers end a three-game losing streak to Charlotte by scoring 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Pau Gasol and Ron Artest added 14 points each. Stephen Jackson led the Bobcats with 30 points.
UPDATE: Bryant later revealed his ankle had been bothering him to start the game. He originally hurt it Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers. After tonight’s game, he said, “It was just hurting today, pretty much. I tried to battle through it tonight. It was just stiff. Stiff and tight. Lamar (Odom) stepped on my foot as I was changing directions at the end of the half, so that didn’t help. It just made it worse. It just set it back to square one.”
Kobe Bryant injured his left ankle after a collision with Lamar Odom in the closing second of the first half tonight. It was the same ankle he tweaked when he collided with Elton Brand of the Philadelphia 76ers last Friday. Bryant left for the Lakers’ locker room. There was no immediate word on the severity of the injury, but he was back on the floor to start the third quarter. Bryant scored three points on 1-for-7 shooting. Andrew Bynum led the Lakers with 12 points and nine rebounds. Stephen Jackson led the Bobcats with 12 points. The Bobcats had won three in a row over the Lakers and six of seven. Overall, Charlotte was 6-4 against the Lakers.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On the night he became the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer, Kobe Bryant passed up what could have been the tying or winning shot and passed the ball to Ron Artest instead. Artest missed a 3-pointer from the right corner as the buzzer sounded and the Lakers’ four-game winning streak came to an end. They finished their eight-game trip with a 5-3 record. Bryant passed Jerry West to become their all-time leading scorer. He had 44 points on 16-for-28 shooting. Artest had 18 on 6-for-9 shooting.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kobe Bryant became the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer when he dunked to cap a fastbreak with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies. Ron Artest jumped on a loose ball, passed ahead to Jordan Farmar, who shoveled the ball to Bryant for his 28th and 29th points tonight. They also were the 25,192nd and 25,193rd points of his career, enabling him to pass West.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kobe Bryant needed to score 29 points to pass Jerry West and become the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer. He has 23 points on 7-for-14 shooting in the first half tonight. He would be closer to West, but has hit only 8 of 13 free throws. West scored 25,192 points during his Hall of Fame career with the Lakers. Memphis led the Lakers by as many as 11 points in the second quarter before Bryant rallied the Lakers. Phil Jackson tied Pat Riley as the Lakers’ winningest coach when they defeated the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Jackson can stand alone with win No. 534 tonight.