—

12:30 a.m.

Kobe Bryant has weighed in on the NBA Finals.

”Cavs playing as if their life is on the line,” Bryant wrote on Twitter after Game 3, getting retweeted more than 10,000 times within the first six minutes of its posting. ”G.S playing as if they have more (NBA Finals) down the line.”

The five-time champion from the Los Angeles Lakers ended the tweet with two hashtags, ”ThisIsNOW” and ”competitionIsEverything.”

—

11:58 p.m.

LeBron James had another huge game, and addressed what many Cleveland fans are wondering: Can he keep it up.

”I don’t know if I can continue to put up these type of numbers but I know I’ll continue to lead these guys every single night,” James said after the game.

But on Tuesday, he got some help from a suddenly well-known Matthew Dellavedova.

”If there’s a ball on the ground, he’s going to be the first guy on the ground,” James said of Dellavedova. ”He showed up multiple times tonight. He’s huge. He’s huge for our team.

”He gives us that grit, that grit that we need. He gives us everything until that tank is empty, and he has a small little reserve tank that he continues to work through.”

—

11:50 p.m.

LeBron James had 40 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 96-91 victory over the Golden State Warriors and a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

The Warriors trimmed a 20-point deficit down to one with about 2 1/2 minutes left, but Matthew Dellavedova converted a three-point play, James made a 3-pointer and Tristan Thompson added a free throw for an 88-80 advantage with 1:31 to play.

Stephen Curry’s 3-pointer later trimmed it to 94-91 before James hit two free throws to finish it.

Dellavedova finished with 20 points for the Cavs, who host Game 4 on Thursday.

Curry rebounded from a slow start to finish with 27 points for the Warriors.

—

11:15 p.m.

Steve Kerr told his team they were too good to hang their heads. And they didn’t.

With a big surge to open the fourth quarter, the Warriors are back in the game.

Down 20 points late in the third, the Warriors opened the fourth with eight straight to trim Cleveland’s lead into single digits, and had it down to a three-point deficit with more than 5 minutes to play.

They are making the run with bench contributions from Andre Iguodala, Leandro Barbosa and David Lee.

Lee hadn’t even played in the first two games of the series.

—

10:47 p.m.

Steve Kerr is not liking the body language he’s seeing from the Golden State Warriors, as they face a big deficit late in the third quarter.

”Get your heads up,” Kerr said during a time-out. ”Every possession matters. Shoot with confidence.”

Later in the same clip aired on ABC, Kerr got animated.

”We’re too good to play like this,” he shouted. ”We’re too good to hang our heads. All right? Let’s go!”

—

10:45

Matthew Dellavedova might score more points than Stephen Curry and as many cheers as LeBron James.

The Australian point guard and fan favorite has hit a couple of 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Cavaliers have opened a double-digit lead over the Warriors.

James and Dellavedova had combined for all of Cleveland’s points for the first 5-plus minutes of the period, and Dellavedova’s baskets drew enormous cheers every time.

—

10:23 p.m.

Thirty-seven points.

That’s a season-low in first-half scoring for Golden State, which averages 56 first-half points per game .

But the concerns probably run deeper than that for the Warriors – the first three games of the finals are the first time all season that Golden State has been under 50 points at the break in back-to-back-to-back games.

—

9:50 p.m.

J.R. Smith can get hot as quickly as anyone, and maybe this is the night it happens.

Smith made two jumpers early in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer, and his first three shots of the game to give him seven points in his first 9 minutes.

He shot poorly in Game 1 and nearly cost the Cavs Game 2 with some boneheaded fouls down the stretch, but with so many injuries he becomes one of their best options to provide a second scorer behind LeBron James.

Unless he loses his stroke or his composure, that is.

—

9:20 p.m.

Even the King pays homage to other royalty.

Just before tip-off of Game 3, what did LeBron James do? Bowed in respect toward a fan in the jam-packed stands.

That fan just happened to be Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown.

Then James helped Cleveland jump out to an early first-quarter lead.

—

9:05 p.m.

This crowd is delirious, and Game 3 hasn’t started.

When the Cavaliers took the floor, 20,000 fans inside Quicken Loans Arena, most of them wearing wine-colored T-shirts, erupted in cheers.

Seconds later, the crowd got even louder when LeBron James, dancing and rapping lyrics, was shown on the giant mid-court scoreboard. That was followed by chants of ”Del-ly, Del-ly,” for guard Matthew Dellavedova, one of the Game 2 heroes.

James said earlier in the day that he expected Cleveland’s crowd to be louder than he’s ever heard, and it appears he could be right.

—

8:55 p.m.

Dwyane Wade is back on ABC to help with the pregame and halftime analysis of Game 3, and he knows LeBron James – his former Miami Heat teammate and still close friend – better than almost anyone.

But James’ raw emotion when Cleveland won Game 2 was something new, even for Wade.

”I’ve been to four Finals with the guy and I’ve never seen him that emotional,” Wade said during Tuesday’s pregame show. ”And what I took from that is that he has some sense of ownership. This is his city.”

Wade’s assessment of James’ performance in this series: ”Spectacular.”

—

8:35 p.m.

Golden State’s biggest star, well its cutest one, has arrived.

Riley Curry, the adorable 2-year-old daughter of Warriors guard Stephen Curry, walked into Quicken Loans Arena along with her grandparents about an hour before Game 3 started.

The youngster has stolen the show from her famous daddy by hamming it up during his postgame interview sessions throughout the playoffs.

—

8:01 p.m.

Biggest game since 1997.

That was the consensus among Cleveland fans, who have waited 51 years for either the Cavaliers, Indians or Browns to win a championship.

The streets outside Quicken Loans Arena were packed with fans in the hours leading up to tip-off for Game 3 as the Cavs hosted their first NBA Finals matchup since 2007, when Cleveland was swept in four games by San Antonio.

This time around, though, Clevelanders are feeling hopeful about the Cavs’ chances of ending a title drought dating to 1964.

”Very confident and excited,” said Sarah Zuercher, who was headed to the game with her husband, Chris, wearing a ”Woah Delly” T-shirt to honor pesky guard Matthew Dellavedova.

—

AP Sports Writer Tom Withers and AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

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The Lakers superstar will provide analysis before and after Tuesday night’s game, joining host Huang Shuo remotely from Los Angeles.

Bryant remains one of the most popular players in Asia and played for the U.S. Olympic team in the Beijing Games in 2008. He first traveled to China for a clinic in 1998 and has returned nearly every year since.

He has almost 3.5 million followers on Weibo, a social media site, and posted Monday that he would be talking about the game and making an announcement about what’s coming this summer.

Sina is an online media community serving China and Chinese communities.

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Bryant also said that if he was in Nash’s position, he would accept his fate as well.

“You can control what you can control,” Bryant said before the Lakers’ final preseason game, a 93-92 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. “He did everything to get back and play at a high level. From that standpoint he should be able to sleep at night. I know I would. I can only think about that in my situation; I just tried to do everything possible to be ready, and if it wasn’t in the cards, if I couldn’t get back to being at that level, you just have to accept it and when you lay your head down you know that you did absolutely everything possible.”

Bryant found out that Nash would be sidelined for the season Thursday when Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak called to inform him.

“It’s tough,” said Bryant, who later talked to the two-time MVP about the injury and his future. “I just asked him if he was in good spirits and he said, ‘Yeah.’ It kind of is what it is at this point. … He struggled with his back even when he was in his prime. I really don’t think it’s an age thing, it’s an injury thing. He’s had to deal with it his entire career, and it just caught up with him now.”

Kupchak first talked with Nash and his agent, Bill Duffy, about this decision Monday.

“I’m not going to share too much,” Kupchak said when asked about the conversations that led to Nash’s decision. “A lot of that is private stuff, but I would say we had discussions at the beginning of the week. I have a pretty good relationship with [Nash] over the years. I think I talked to Steve more than the representative about the issue and I have a great relationship with Bill Duffy, his agent. In fact, Bill and I met here yesterday to make sure we’re on the same page in terms of the [news] release because it’s a sensitive kind of thing. It’s a little unusual. Something like that you normally hammer out with an agent, but because of the relationship [with Nash] I spent a lot of time with him.”

Kupchak said the Lakers have reached out to the league about applying for a disabled player exception. If it is granted, it would be worth roughly $4.85 million.

“This just came about, and he remains on our roster,” Kupchak said. “We made a couple of preliminary phone calls, looking into the mechanics of the disabled player exception, so we’ll look into that further next week and probably get that process going.”

Ronnie Price started at point guard for the Lakers on Friday night but hurt his right knee in the first quarter and did not return. He will be re-evaluated Saturday. If he is out for an extended amount of time, the Lakers would be left with only two point guards — Jeremy Lin and rookie Jordan Clarkson.

“Will we look to get another backcourt player?” Kupchak said. “I don’t know.”

The Lakers have been careful not use to the word retirement when talking about Nash in an effort to keep their options open with him. Those include the disabled player exception and the possibility of trading him to a team looking to dump salary for an expiring contract. But the more Kupchak talked, the more it was apparent Nash, who will turn 41 in February and is in the last year of his contract, has played his final game.

“I think all he knows is that he can’t continue to play,” Kupchak said. “Whenever he feels like he can, he tries to and then he gets set back three or four weeks. There’s age, there’s life after basketball. The only reason he’s playing this year is because he loves to play, so there’s a lot racing through his head. The bottom line is he can’t put it together.”

Although the end of Nash’s illustrious career might have ended riddled with injuries after playing just 15 games last season, Kupchak is happy the two-time MVP was at least able to leave the court on his own two feet.

“It could have ended a lot worse,” Kupchak said. “He could have gotten hurt in a game and there could have been some permanent damage. Even now, I think he’ll recover and feel fine in three or four months. Clearly when we signed him, we felt there was a two-year window to contend for a championship and that’s why he wanted to come to Los Angeles, too. It didn’t work out and I know he’s felt a lot of pressure to fulfill his obligation contractually. The expectations were so high and I’m sure he’s disappointed about that, but it doesn’t take away from a great career — two MVPs, multiple All-Stars, and he’ll be in the Hall of Fame.

“That third year we kind of felt was a gravy year anyway and didn’t take place. Who would have expected him to break his leg in the second game of the first season? That really was the beginning.”

While there has been talk about Nash staying on as a mentor or an assistant, Kupchak said, “I think he needs to get away.”

Nash hasn’t talked to the team since the announcement was made and isn’t expected to be with it this month.

Nash entered the league in 1996 along with Bryant. Before Friday night’s game, Bryant simply smiled at the fact that they are still in the league almost two decades later.

“We’ve both been playing years that we probably should not have been,” Bryant said. “Nineteen years is a very, very long time. It’s tough to look around at any industry and find anyone that’s been doing anything else for 19 years.”

In order to get Nash more than two years ago, the Lakers traded first-round selections in 2013 and ’15, and second-rounders in 2013 and ’14. They also gave Nash a three-year, $27 million contract. The thought at the time was he would be one of the final pieces to a championship puzzle, but it ultimately never got solved.

Kupchak, though, said he won’t regret trying to figure it out.

“That’s part of what it takes to get a player like that,” Kupchak said. “We would do it again.”

The post Steve Nash did everything appeared first on IdealCapper.

Bryant scored a season-high 47 points and carried the Los Angeles Lakers closer to a playoff berth with a 113-106 victory over the short-handed but tenacious Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

The Lakers moved a full game up on the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“We’ve got no breathing room at all,” Bryant said. “I’m still on edge. We’ve got to win three more games and we’re in.”

Portland, missing the playoffs for the second straight season, has lost nine straight, the most since an 11-game skid in the 2005-06 season. Rookie Damian Lillard led the Blazers with a career-high 38 points.

Pau Gasol had 23 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, while Dwight Howard added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. Bryant was 18 of 18 from the free throw line and played the entire game, determined to pull out a win after trailing early.

“What he (Bryant) is doing is phenomenal. He’s determined to get us in the playoffs,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “That’s what happens when you open your mouth and guarantee that we’ll get in the playoffs.”

Bryant vowed in late February that his team would make it to the postseason. The Lakers wrap up the regular season at home with games against playoff-bound Golden State, San Antonio and Houston.

Gasol knotted the game at 96 with a layup and a jumper with 7:09 left. After Lillard’s 15-footer, Gasol added another jumper to tie it again. His layup gave the Lakers a 102-100 edge before Bryant hit a pair of free throws and added a 23-foot jump shot with 4:09 left to make it 106-100.

Howard’s alley-oop dunk from Gasol with 53 seconds left made it 110-104 and all but sealed it.

For much of the game, it seemed like Bryant the veteran against Lillard the upstart rookie.

“He’s spectacular … really fantastic,” Bryant said of the Blazers’ five-time rookie of the month. “A lot of players get hot, but he’s got the moves, patience, intelligence, the balance on his jumpers. He’s the real deal.”

Lillard has grown up admiring Bryant.

“I got to guard him and he got to guard me,” Lillard said. “I enjoyed the challenge.”

The deck was stacked from the start against the Blazers, who started four rookies for the first time in the team’s history.

Portland was without starters Wesley Matthews (ankle), J.J. Hickson (back) and Nicolas Batum (right shoulder). As a result, two-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge was the only veteran starting with rookie forward Victor Claver, guards Lillard and Will Barton, and center Meyers Leonard.

Matthews injured his right ankle in Portland’s 96-91 loss to Dallas on Sunday, while Batum was missing his fourth straight game with a sore shoulder. Hickson says he’s been dealing with a painful lower back for the past several games.

But the rookies got off to an astonishingly fast start, going up 17-8 on Lillard’s fadeaway jumper. Lillard banked in a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 22-12 and the Blazers made eight of their first nine shots from the field.

He hit another 3 to make it 35-25 and the Blazers went on to lead 41-33 at the end of the first, their most points in the opening quarter this season.

The Lakers chipped away at the lead and Bryant’s long jumper on the baseline closed Los Angeles to 50-48.

The Blazers led 69-61 at the break, but the Lakers opened the second half with a 10-0 run capped by Howard’s hook shot to pull ahead 71-69, their first lead of the game. Howard’s layup extended the lead to 78-71.

The Blazers were hurt when Claver rolled his ankle late in the third quarter and retreated to the locker room, but they stayed on the Lakers’ heels, coming within 86-85 on Eric Maynor’s running jumper and pulling in front on Luke Babbitt’s 3 pointer.

Maynor’s fadeaway put Portland up 95-90.

“It was a very good effort by our team, but unfortunately we couldn’t pull it out,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “A couple of plays down the stretch could have gone either way, a couple of shots could have gone either way. For the most part, I thought it was a well-played game against a team that’s pretty hungry to make the playoffs.”

Game notes

Combined with the Lakers’ 104-96 victory over New Orleans on Tuesday night, it was the first time this season the Lakers had won both games of a back-to-back. … Lillard was awarded the NBA’s Community Assist award for March because of his anti-bullying campaign. He is the fourth rookie to win the honor, and first since Atlanta’s Al Horford in 2008. More than 5,000 fans have signed a pledge to help end bullying as part of Lillard’s “Respect” program. … Lillard became second Portland rookie to go over 500 assists. Kelvin Ransey had 555 in the 1980-81 season. … The Blazers had won three straight and 12 of their last 14 against the Lakers at the Rose Garden.

The post Kobe Bryant scores 47 points as Lakers stay in playoff position appeared first on IdealCapper.

Kobe meant no offense to Shaq, his longtime teammate and former rival. He’s just busy doing everything and playing nearly every minute to keep the Lakers in the playoff race.

Bryant had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in his 19th career triple-double, and the Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks 101-81 on Tuesday night in a key game for two teams struggling to get into the Western Conference postseason picture.

With former coach Phil Jackson in attendance for O’Neal’s honors, Bryant put on a virtuoso performance while playing more than 47 minutes. Bryant has rested for just 79 seconds in the past two games, but he’s keeping the Lakers afloat during the latest round of injuries and setbacks in their roller-coaster season.

“I wish I could (have seen it), but this is a huge game for us,” Bryant said of the ceremony for O’Neal, his teammate on three championship teams. “I had to stay back here and get ready for the second half. We talked when I came in at halftime. We stopped and chopped it up for a couple of minutes.”

O’Neal liked what he saw from his courtside seat next to his mother. With the win, Los Angeles moved back into an eighth-place tie in the West with the Utah Jazz (39-36), who hold the tiebreaker edge on the Lakers.

Dwight Howard had 24 points and 12 rebounds while hitting seven fourth-quarter free throws for the Lakers (39-36), who had lost four of six before jumping to a big early lead on Dallas and hanging on to it throughout the second half.

“I’m just happy we played the right way tonight, especially on the defensive end,” Howard said.

Bryant did much of the heavy lifting, but the rest of the Lakers also played well without injured starters Steve Nash and Metta World Peace. Pau Gasol had 14 points and 10 rebounds while guarding Dirk Nowitzki, and Earl Clark contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds while blocking a career-high five shots in a stellar defensive game off the bench.

“We’re desperate, and the players know it,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I didn’t think we had a great game offensively. We missed a lot of easy shots, didn’t get hot, but we were playing so well defensively that we won it that way.”

Dallas (36-38) still has a game in hand on the Lakers and Jazz, but the Mavs’ task just got tougher. Chris Kaman scored 14 points and Nowitzki had just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting for the Mavericks, who had won four of five.

“I thought overall we didn’t play well enough,” Nowitzki said. “They used their length on our scorers. Coming into this building, I think the only way we beat them is if we shoot well from the floor. I didn’t think we were shooting the ball well enough to steal one here.”

After trailing for most of the night, Dallas was down by just seven points when the Mavs began intentionally fouling Howard. Hack-a-Dwight backfired miserably, with Howard going a respectable 7-for-12 while the Lakers made a decisive 16-1 run, holding the Mavericks to just one field goal in the final 4 1/2 minutes.

“It is a hit. It is a game we needed,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “I think everyone is frustrated. I mean, Dirk understands what this stage is about. We have some inexperienced guys that haven’t been here, so this is a valuable learning experience for them, but it has a price.”

Although the Lakers aren’t at full strength, at least they can get some rest at home. After a road-heavy March schedule, the Lakers must leave Los Angeles just once more in the regular season while playing six of their last eight on their home court.

The Lakers retired O’Neal’s No. 34 jersey at halftime, with Lakers luminaries including Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Jamaal Wilkes assembling for the ceremony. The Staples Center crowd loved Shaq, but the fans adored former Jackson, who attended what was likely his first game since walking away from the team in 2011.

Jackson was serenaded with multiple chants of “We want Phil!” during his brief remarks to the crowd, echoing the same chants that filled Staples Center late last year when the Lakers flirted with bringing back the 11-time NBA champion coach before unexpectedly hiring D’Antoni to replace Mike Brown.

The Lakers made an 18-6 run for a 16-point lead late in the first half led by Bryant, who put on a show. After banking in a tremendously difficult 16-footer while getting fouled, he spun and appeared to look directly at Jackson, whose smile didn’t change.

Los Angeles’ 15-point halftime lead dwindled to five before Clark led another rally, and Bryant kept the Lakers ahead in the fourth quarter before Dallas resorted to purposely fouling Howard.

Game notes

Nash is hopeful he’ll return Friday after a bit more rest for his injured hip, while World Peace won’t be back any time soon from surgery on a torn meniscus in his left knee. … Nowitzki got a technical foul for arguing with 4:04 to play while Dallas trailed by seven points.

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Bryant’s pull-up jumper from the foul line with 7:55 remaining in the second quarter gave Bryant 31,421 points for his career, edging past Chamberlain’s 31,419 total.

Now, Bryant trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928) and Michael Jordan (32,292).

Bryant had passed former teammate Shaquille O’Neal last season to occupy the No. 5 spot.

“I just want No. 6, man,” Bryant said, referring to his championship count, when asked where he wanted to finish on the all-time scoring list when he retires. “I’m not asking for too much, man. Just give me a sixth ring, damn it.”

While the Lakers are struggling just to make the playoffs this season, moving up the scoring list seems more feasible than another title at this point. Bryant is 34 and in his 17th season, but even as he’s aged, his scoring has hardly taken a dip (27.2 points per game average in 2012-13 after 27.9 a year ago).

“It depends on him and his body and mentally if he wants to keep going through this,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said after shootaround Saturday. “I would expect he would. He still hasn’t lost a whole lot and he’s 34 years old. Guys are now playing to 38-40. That’s on him. But his body and what he’s doing, he’s great.”

Bryant and Chamberlain already have been linked through their penchant for points in the past, as Bryant broke Chamberlain’s Philadelphia area high school scoring record by finishing with 2,883 points to Chamberlain’s 2,252. Bryant’s 81-point game on Jan. 22, 2006, also happens to be the second highest single-scoring game in league history, trailing only Chamberlain’s 100 scored on March 2, 1962.

“It’s a lot of points. It’s a lot of points,” Bryant said earlier this season. “I think it was just one of those nights for both of us where there was really no explanation for it. You just kind of get into one of those zones and one of those moments and things happen. … I was doing mine on jump shots, though. I didn’t have to bang with too many guys down low. I was just catching and shooting.”

While it took more than 40 years for another player to score 80 points or more after Chamberlain scored 100, Bryant said his and Chamberlain’s scoring totals are achievable.

“I believe so,” Bryant said when asked if any player would ever join him and Chamberlain with a matching single-game scoring outburst. “One day, it will happen.”

The post Kobe Bryant fourth on scoring list appeared first on IdealCapper.

X-rays were negative.

Bryant would not speculate whether he would play Friday against the Indiana Pacers, but he left Philips Arena on Wednesday walking with a limp but without the aid of crutches.

The Lakers do not practice on Thursday. Bryant’s regiment for the day? “Compression. Ice. Django. Zero Dark Thirty. This is Forty and 1 hour of sleep. #countonwill #countonhaters. On to the next,” he tweeted.

Bryant, who had 31 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the Lakers’ 96-92 loss to Atlanta, landed awkwardly after taking a baseline jumper that would have forced overtime if it had gone in with 3.9 seconds remaining.

Bryant appeared to land on Dahntay Jones’ foot and twisted his left ankle, crumpling to the court in pain. No foul was called.

After the game, Bryant said referees need to do a better job protecting shooters from defenders who go underneath them while shooting.

“As defensive players, you can contest shots, but you can’t walk underneath players,” Bryant said. “That’s dangerous for the shooter.”

Bryant later tweeted: “#dangerousplay that should have been called. Period.”

Jones responded via Twitter: “Tape doesn’t lie. Ankle was turned on the floor after the leg kick out that knocked him off balance. I would never try to hurt the man.

He later added: “Leg kick that makes contact with a defensive player is an offense foul. Period. The nba changed that rule 2 yrs ago. Stop it!”

Bryant and Jones have a history. The Hawks’ swingman was called for a flagrant foul for tripping Bryant in Game 4 of the 2009 Western Conference finals when he played for the Denver Nuggets.

The play jogged Bryant’s memory even further than that, all the way back to Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals when he played just seven minutes after landing on then-Indiana Pacers guard and current ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose’s foot.

“He Jalen Rose’d me,” Bryant said of Jones on Wednesday night.

Rose admitted on “The Jalen Rose Show,” a podcast on ESPN.com’s Grantland Network, back in September that he purposely stepped under Bryant.

“I can’t say that it was an accident,” Rose said.

A reporter asked Bryant if he felt like Jones’ play was “deliberate.”

“I don’t ever want to put that on somebody, I really don’t,” Bryant said. “I just think players need to be made conscious of it and I think officials need to protect shooters. Period.”

Deliberate or not, Bryant was upset that Wednesday likely was the Lakers’ final game against the Hawks this season.

“I can’t get my mind past the fact that I got to wait a year to get revenge,” he said.

Jodie Meeks subbed in for Bryant with 2.6 seconds left to play after he fell to the floor, at which point Bryant approached the official on the sideline.

“He instructed (Lakers trainer) Gary (Vitti) to come out onto the court and he came out there on the court, which then takes me out of the game permanently; I can’t go back in,” Bryant said. “So that was just a miscommunication I was having a conversation with the official about.”

Lakers forward Earl Clark also suffered a sprained right ankle in the first half and did not play after exiting the game early in the third quarter. X-rays on Clark’s ankle were negative, and he is day to day.

“It didn’t swell up real big,” Clark said. “I can walk, I didn’t need crutches, so it feels pretty good. I’ll be ready to go on Friday.”

The Lakers (34-32) are a half-game ahead of the Utah Jazz (33-32) for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

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“I’m a big thinker,” Howard said during a wide-ranging, candid interview after the Los Angeles Lakers practiced Saturday afternoon. “So I just stayed in the hotel and thought about the first half of the season and how I could do better for our team.

“And I just told myself, ‘I’m going to commit myself to being better for the second half of the season.’ ”

That meant cutting sugar completely out of his diet so he could get into the kind of shape he needed to be in to be the Lakers’ defensive anchor and run coach Mike D’Antoni’s pick-and-roll sets.

That meant acknowledging that he was trying to be somebody he wasn’t the first half of the season.

And, yes, it meant admitting to himself that playing alongside the hard-driving Kobe Bryant was something that he needed both personally and professionally.

“It’s going to make me a better man and a better player from watching Kobe,” Howard said.

Playing in Los Angeles, for a franchise with expectations as high as the Lakers, is “a lot different,” Howard said.

“Besides just the expectations,” he said. “In games, I mess up and there’s somebody in the crowd saying something and I’m ready to snap at ’em. That’s not what we’re supposed to do.

“But you look at a guy like Kobe and he doesn’t care about nothing but going out there and playing hard. That’s a lesson a lot of us have to learn — especially young guys.”

Howard said he and Bryant always have had a good relationship, but it’s deepened this season, particularly since the All-Star break.

“I told him [Bryant]: ‘I’m afraid to miss. When I get out there, I don’t want to miss, and I end up missing.’ And he was like: ‘You know what? Shoot 1,000 jumpshots a day. You’re going to miss a lot of those shots. But that’s OK. Because you’re teaching yourself it’s OK to miss.’

“Now I see it. He gets out there and he might miss a couple 3s, but then he’ll make nine in a row. You see that and it just kind of gives you more inspiration.”

Howard and Bryant are coming off their best two games as Lakers, with the latter becoming the first Laker since Jerry West in 1970 to post back-to-back 40-point, 10-assist games in wins against New Orleans and Toronto, respectively. Howard has dominated defensively while averaging 22 points, 14 rebounds and 4.5 blocks.

In nine games since the All-Star break, Howard is averaging 15.4 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks a game. Moreover, his energy and attitude seem markedly different.

“He jumped three or four times after one ball,” D’Antoni said of Howard’s defensive performance Friday night, when he blocked five shots and intimidated several Raptors. “His conditioning didn’t allow him to do that [before].

“I think he was harshly judged because he wasn’t 100 percent. There’s all kind of little factors, but the further away he gets away from the [back] operation, the better he will be.”

Whatever the case, Los Angeles (32-31) will take it. With Utah’s loss Saturday night to the Knicks, the Lakers are now tied with the Jazz for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth.

“When I first [came to L.A.], I wanted to come here and not talk to anybody and act completely different,” Howard said. “But that’s not who I am. I’ve never been that way. I shouldn’t ever shut myself off to the world. I don’t think that’s good for the team or for me and what I want to accomplish in life.

“I thought about it and said, ‘No, I can’t change. I’ve got to mature in certain areas,’ and I think I have. But I can’t change who I am.”

When did that change take place?

“At the All-Star break,” Howard said. “I just thought about what we’re trying to accomplish as a team and I really want to win a championship. That’s the reason why I’m in LA.”

The post Dwight Howard: I changed at break appeared first on IdealCapper.

For a .500 team, the Lakers are looking pretty good lately. Bryant is the biggest reason why.

Bryant scored 11 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and hit the go-ahead layup with 9 seconds left, leading the Lakers back to .500 for the first time in more than two months with a 99-98 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night.

Steve Blake stole Smith’s final pass in the waning seconds for the Lakers (30-30), who blew a 16-point lead in the second half before Bryant scored their last six points.

After Bryant scored the Lakers’ final basket while driving directly at Smith, Blake swiped Smith’s desperation pass from underneath Los Angeles’ basket. Bryant threw the ball high in the air to run out the clock on Los Angeles’ seventh straight home victory over the Hawks since 2006.

“I just had to attack,” Bryant said. “I wanted to attack and just go right at them. Take the game to them. Be aggressive. Be physical. And it worked out.”

Steve Nash had 15 points and 10 assists, while Dwight Howard added 11 points and 15 rebounds in the Lakers’ 13th win in 18 games. Los Angeles hung on for a quality win over the Hawks, a near-certain playoff team with ample motivation to knock off the high-profile Lakers.

Kobe wouldn’t allow it, making one big play after another down the stretch. Afterward, he repeatedly compared himself to a fine wine — only getting better with age.

“It was more of a message to my team here, to kind of have that will, that hunger, to push through it by any means necessary,” he said. “It’s just a challenge. I wouldn’t even really categorize it as fun. The fun comes in the challenge, and we’re up for it.”

The Lakers hadn’t been at .500 since Dec. 28, when they followed a win over Portland with six consecutive losses. They’ve spent the past six weeks digging themselves out of the latest hole in their rut-filled season, culminating in a lengthy stretch of recent solid play despite the absence of injured 7-footer Pau Gasol.

If the Lakers manage to upset Oklahoma City on Tuesday night, they would have their first winning record since Nov. 20, when they beat Brooklyn in coach Mike D’Antoni’s debut to go 6-5.

Al Horford scored 24 points and Smith had 19 for the Hawks, who had won four straight before consecutive road losses to the Suns and Lakers. Atlanta hasn’t beaten the Lakers anywhere since March 31, 2010.

Smith relished his matchup with Bryant, even if he got the short end of it.

“He’s been doing it for a long time, so you have to respect what he brings to the table,” Smith said. “He’s an assassin. He wants that moment. But from a defensive standpoint, I love taking a challenge like that and try to step up and try to make it tough for him. It was kind of like a tug-of-war match. We were going back and forth, and they made one more play than we did to win the game. I live for moments like this.”

Bryant put the Lakers up 96-95 with 2:18 to play on that ferocious dunk. After turnovers by both teams, Jeff Teague reclaimed the lead for Atlanta with 45 seconds left on a floating layup in traffic.

After Bryant hit two free throws, Horford put the Hawks back ahead with a dunk on a backdoor pass from Smith with 26.7 seconds left. But Bryant drove around Horford and right into Smith at the rim, willing the ball over his defense.

“There’s a reason why he’s the best player in the game,” Horford said of Bryant. “He did what he usually does, and we didn’t do a good enough job on him. It’s disappointing. We thought we worked hard and put ourselves in a position to win. We just had too many mistakes down the stretch.”

Devin Harris scored 12 of his 16 points in a three-minute spree late in the third quarter while Atlanta erased Los Angeles’ big lead.

Game notes

The Hawks finish their trip Monday night in Denver. … Atlanta coach Larry Drew was able to attend his son’s final UCLA home game on Saturday thanks to the fortunate coincidence in the Hawks’ schedule. Drew considers Los Angeles home after playing for the Clippers and Lakers, followed by a lengthy stint as a Lakers assistant coach in the 1990s prior to Phil Jackson’s arrival. … Novak Djokovic visited the Lakers’ locker room with fellow tennis player Justin Gimelstob before the game. One day after winning the Dubai Championships halfway around the globe, Djokovic spoke at length with Howard, who claims he won a school tennis tournament as a kid.

The post Kobe Bryant scores 34 points as Lakers reach .500 mark appeared first on IdealCapper.

Bryant had 38 points to win a scoring duel with Nowitzki, and Steve Nash helped beat his former team by scoring 20 points for the first time with the Los Angeles Lakers in a 103-99 victory against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

Nowitzki finished with a season-high 30 in a game that had a playoff feel from the start, even though both teams still have plenty of ground to make up to even qualify for the postseason. They trail eighth-place Houston by several games, but they are the franchises that have the last three NBA titles won by teams from the West.

Bryant and Nowitzki had 16 points apiece in the first half and were still even at 24 after the third quarter before Bryant scored 14 in the fourth, including seven in the last 3 minutes. They were a combined 8 of 9 from 3-point range and hit 24 shots and 12 free throws between them.

“It’s fun,” said Bryant, who also had 12 rebounds and seven assists. “He’s one of my all-time favorites. He’s a throwback type of player. He doesn’t mind the physicality. He made some incredible plays down the stretch.”

Bryant, who went past the 31,000-point mark, was playing in Mark Cuban’s building two days after the outspoken Dallas owner suggested in a radio interview that the Lakers might have to consider dumping the five-time NBA champion through the amnesty clause.

The Lakers responded by calling the comment inappropriate, and Cuban defended himself before the game.

“Amnesty THAT,” Bryant tweeted after the game.

“I’m sure if he wants to amnesty Dirk, that’s something we’ll be willing to entertain,” Bryant told reporters.

The Mavericks were so frustrated trying to guard Bryant, O.J. Mayo got called for a foul and a technical when he jumped around wildly after the whistle blew on a drive to the basket by Bryant. Nash made the technical shot, and Bryant hit his pair of free throws for a 94-90 lead.

“He’s been the best player in my decade,” said Nowitzki, who also had his season high with 13 rebounds after missing the first 27 games following knee surgery. “I’ve in the NBA a long time and he’s the one player I love to watch. It was a big game on the national TV stage. It was a fun one. We just came up a little bit short.”

Nowitzki was called for a technical earlier in the fourth quarter after a similar display when he missed a shot during a physical sequence with Metta World Peace.

“It was very intense,” said Mavericks rookie Jae Crowder, who spent his share of time trying to guard Bryant. “From the crowd standpoint, from the player standpoint, from the officiating. You could tell.”

Three times in the final 3 minutes, Bryant put the Lakers up four after the Mavericks had pulled within two. The last gave Los Angeles a 101-97 lead with 46.9 seconds left.

Nowitzki scored to make it a two-point game, and World Peace missed a free throw to give Dallas a chance to tie. Mayo missed a 3-pointer with about 5 seconds left, and Bryant clinched it with a free throw that made it a two-possession game.

“That’s why he’s Kobe Bryant,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He’s not John Smith. No disrespect to John Smith, whoever he is. That’s what he does. That’s what he loves. That’s what he trains for.”

Nash had 13 of his 20 points and three of his four 3-pointers in the second half, including one that answered Mayo’s only bucket from long range and put the Lakers up 99-95.

“He came on in the second half and really gave us a big boost,” Bryant said. “He was very aggressive and it forced them to make changes defensively. He’s extremely clutch.”

Dwight Howard had three big free throws in the fourth, including one that put Los Angeles ahead for good at 91-90, and finished with nine points and 13 rebounds.

The Lakers had the biggest lead at six — several times — and the Mavericks erased each one through three quarters. Nowitzki’s 3-pointer from the top of the key late in the third made him 4 of 4 from long range and capped a 7-0 run for a 71-70 Dallas lead, but Bryant scored twice on drives after a timeout to put the Lakers in front again.

In the first half, Nowitzki was 5 of 8 from the floor, made both 3-pointers and all four free throws and led everyone with eight rebounds. Bryant, meanwhile, was 3 of 4 from long range, including a pair from well behind the arc, but just 1 of 6 inside the line. He had a game-high six assists before halftime.

Game notes

Bryant got a technical in the first quarter when he gestured at referee Ken Mauer after Darren Collison stole ball. It was his league-leading 13th technical — one ahead of DeMarcus Cousins of Sacramento. A one-game suspension is in order when a player reaches 16 technicals. … Mavericks C Chris Kaman entered the game in the second quarter after missing 10 straight games with a concussion. … The Mavericks scored at least 30 points in the first quarter for the fifth time in six games.

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