Ballin': Mike Brown Benched Kobe During the Lakers Loss to Memphis
By Jason McIntyre
Memphis 102, LA Lakers 96 Bynum got his (30 points), Gasol missed 11 of his 15 shots, and Kobe got benched. The Lakers (3rd loss in five games) missed another chance to open up a bigger lead on the struggling Clippers by suffering just their 4th home loss of the season. Here’s a GIF of Kobe taking out his benching frustrations on a chair. Later, he refused to criticize coach Mike Brown. Reserve OJ Mayo scored 16 points; the Memphis bench outscored the LA bench 41-9.
Atlanta 139, Utah 133, 4 OT: Joe Johnson scored 37 for the Hawks, including this step-back 3-pointer that forced triple overtime. The Jazz ran out of gas in the 4th OT. How ridiculous was this game? Gordon Hayward played 57 minutes (but only shot 4-of-15). In 54 minutes, Devin Harris shot just 4-of-18.
Minnesota 117, Denver 100: Kevin Love scored 30 points and collected 21 rebounds and the Timberwolves did everything right in a road romp. They had 25 assists, took 18 offensive rebounds, and made 12 three-pointers.
Oklahoma City 103, Miami 87: NBA Finals preview? Wasn’t much of one. Kevin Durant scored 28 to lead five Thunder in double figures in a surprisingly easy win for OKC. Tough to tell what’s more impressive in the video above – Harden’s perfect pass, or Durant’s quick catch and score. In the video below, I love how Durant quickly calls for the alley-oop. Thunder looked sharp.
For Miami, this was the highlight:
Boston 88, Washington 76: The 76ers loss to the Spurs combined with this Celtics victory means there’s a tie atop the Atlantic.
Portland 90, Golden State 87: North Carolina to Texas on that alley-oop. You know the Warriors are in tank mode when a 2nd round pick from Hofstra starts at point guard and takes 22 shots. They definitely want to retain that Top 7 draft pick. Right now, they have the 9th worst record in the league and even though strange things happen in the lottery, there’s a strong chance they’d lose that pick (to Utah).