Kobe Bryant scored 32 points on Tuesday to help the Los Angeles Lakers to a 98-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings and keep closing in on Michael Jordan for third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Bryant scored 21 points in the second half, including a breakaway dunk and a three-pointer that tied the score at 92-92 with less than four minutes to play.
Jordan Hill’s layup put Los Angeles up 94-93 with 1 minute, 39 seconds remaining. The Kings regained the lead with a basket from Darren Collison, but Bryant drained two free-throws to give the Lakers a 96-95 lead.
Bryant wrapped up the scoring with two free-throws and Sacramento’s Nik Stauskas bounced a three-point attempt off the rim to end the Kings’ challenge.
Although the Lakers are enduring a tough season, Bryant came into the game averaging an league-leading 25.2 points per game, even though he is shooting a career-worst 38.9 percent from the field.
“I’m sometimes just shaking my head on how he can continue to go out there and deliver,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said of the 36-year-old workhorse.
Bryant now needs 31 points to pass Jordan’s 32,292 career points for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 38,387 and Karl Malone with 36,928 have scored more in their careers.
Elsewhere in the NBA, Memphis withstood 18 three-pointers by Dallas to beat the Mavericks 114-105 on Tuesday, with Marc Gasol’s 30 points helping the Grizzlies to a victory that moved them back to the top of the NBA’s Southwest Division.
Gasol was 9 of 14 from the field and 12 of 13 from the line, while Mike Conley added 22 points.
Chandler Parsons led the Mavericks with 30 points, going 10 of 18 from the field and 6 of 10 from three-point range.
Elsewhere, LeBron James led Cleveland to an eighth straight win. The Cavaliers came from behind to beat Toronto 105-101, with James scoring 35, including a tie-breaking three-pointer with 48 seconds remaining.
James’ jumper from the top of the key gave Cleveland a 102-99 lead and tied him with Mark Price for the franchise record for three-pointers at 802.
Dion Waiters scored 18 for Cleveland, who trailed by 10 points early in the fourth. Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross each scored 18 for Toronto, who shot 14 of 21 in the first quarter, but were overrun.
Meanwhile, Miami ended a four-game skid by beating Phoenix, in a game that saw Chris Bosh score 10 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, including seven straight at one point, to guide the Heat to a 103-97 win.
Utah ended a nine-game losing slump by defeating San Antonio 100-96, with Derrick Favors scoring 21 points and Gordon Hayward adding 20.
In other NBA games, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers over Detroit 98-86, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant also scored 23 to help the Thunder defeat Milwaukee 114-101 and New York fell 104-93 to New Orleans.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS