“The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant #24 looks to shoot as the Thunder’s Andre Roberson #21 defends during their NBA game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Friday, December 19, 2014. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht/Los Angeles Daily News)
Amid all the question marks surrounding how the Lakers will adjust Kobe Bryant’s minutes and role, one thing has at least remained certain.
Bryant will play when the Lakers (9-19) visit the Chicago Bulls (19-9) at the United Center on Thursday, part of the slate of the NBA’s nationally televised Christmas Day games.
“That’s pretty obvious,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said.
Bryant sat out of the Lakers’ surprising 115-105 upset over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday at Staples Center after showing fatigue in recent days. In the previous five games, Bryant had averaged 20.3 points on 28.6 percent clip. But it wasn’t until Bryant posted 25 points on 8-of-30 shooting and nine turnovers on Sunday’s loss to Sacramento that Scott then said he would consider resting Bryant.
Scott plans to trim Bryant’s 35.4 minutes per game average to 32 by ensuring he sits out at the end of first and third quarters. But everything else remains in question. That includes whether Bryant will trim point-guard responsibilities and if he will play on the second night of back-to-backs, including Friday’s game in Dallas.
“Once he plays Thursday, we’ll see how he feels and ready for Friday,” Scott said of Bryant. “If I don’t think his intensity level is as high as it should be, I’ll sit him Friday. But if it’s up there where it should be, he’ll play Friday. I can’t sit here right now and say, ‘Kobe won’t play Friday or Kobe will play Friday. We’ll wait until Thursday to see how it goes.”
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