Kobe Bryant shot himself into elite company and the struggling Los Angeles Lakers picked up a rare victory.
Bryant dropped in 28 points and the Lakers held of the Atlanta Hawks 114-109 on Tuesday for just their second win of the season.
“Kobe played great,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “When we really needed him to step up he was able to do that as usual.”
With their 15-point halftime cushion cut to three, Bryant buried his patented fade-away jumper from the right corner and the ensuing free throw after drawing a foul on Thabo Sefolosha with 71 seconds remaining, to put the Lakers ahead, 108-102.
Bryant became just the fourth player to reach 32 000 points for his career, joining Hall of Fame icons Michael Jordan (32 292), Karl Malone (36 928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38 387).
“It means a lot,” said Bryant, who needs 291 points to pass Jordan as the NBA’s third all-time leading scorer. “I can’t stress how much work it is to be in this position over 19 years. That’s where I really take enjoyment from it. It’s the process. It feels good to be able to have that accomplishment.”
The Lakers led 111-106 with 17.7 seconds left on Jordan Hill’s put-back of Bryant’s missed jumper but had to sweat out the final seconds.
The Hawks drew to within 112-109 on Kyle Korver’s 3-pointer, and had a shot to force overtime after getting the ball back with 7.7 seconds.
Out of a timeout, centre Pero Antic launched a wide-open 3-point attempt from the right wing but it bounced off the back of the iron.
“It’s basically an easy shot,” Antic said. “I usually make that shot.”
Hill grabbed the rebound, hit two free throws to cap an 18-point, 10-rebound effort, and the Lakers snapped a four-game slide with their first road win of the season.
Carlos Boozer collected 20 points with 10 rebounds, Nick Young scored 17 in his season-debut from a thumb injury while Jeremy Lin contributed 15 and 10 assists for the Lakers, (2-9), who rebounded from Sunday’s 136-115 drubbing by Golden State.
“We were down after getting beat up on Sunday but we played as hard as we could,” Boozer said. “Everyone was involved and Kobe was amazing.”
Paul Millsap had 29 points and Jeff Teague added 23 for Atlanta (5-5) which dropped to 4-1 at home.
Elsewhere:
– Milwaukee Bucks 117, New York Knicks 113: Turkey’s Ersan Ilyasova scored 20 points, Zaza Pachulia had season-highs of 14 points with 13 rebounds, and the Bucks (6-5) held off the visiting Knicks for their fourth win in the last five games.
Trailing by 22 points in the fourth quarter, the Knicks stormed to within 115-113 on Carmelo Anthony’s dunk with 7.9 seconds left. But Jerryd Bayless made two free throws and the Bucks escaped
Anthony had 26 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 24 in New York’s (3-9) eighth loss in the last nine outings.
– Utah Jazz 98, Oklahoma City Thunder 81: Alec Burks collected 20 points with 14 rebounds, Turkey’s Enes Kanter had 16 points and 15 boards, and the Jazz (5-7) overcame a slow start to hand the injury-depleted Thunder a third straight loss.
Jeremy Lamb netted 19 points for Oklahoma City (3-9), which led by 17 early in the second quarter but was outscored 58-39 after intermission and fell to 1-6 on the road.
– New Orleans Pelicans 106, Sacramento Kings 100: Anthony Davis scored 28, Ryan Anderson added 22, and Tyreke Evans had all 18 of his in the second half against his former team, as the visiting Pelicans (6-4) rallied past the Kings for their third win in the last four games.
DeMarcus Cousins collected 24 points and 17 boards for Sacramento (6-5), which was outscored 31-15 in the pivotal third quarter en route to its fourth loss in the last five games.
