Knicks at Lakers
Kobe Bryant put on one of the best performances of his final season against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, but the Los Angeles Lakers still suffered their 52nd loss. Bryant will try to put on another impressive performance against a rival star and guide his Lakers to a win when they host Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Bryant and James spent some time guarding each other and going back and forth in a show for the fans, and Bryant ended up with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting in 32 minutes of the 120-108 loss. Anthony is more of a contemporary rival to James due to their past battles in the postseason when Anthony was with the Denver Nuggets. Bryant helped squander Anthony’s best chance at a championship in 2009, when the Lakers topped the Nuggets in six games in the Western Conference finals and went on to win the NBA Finals. Anthony has not gotten anywhere near that far in the playoffs since and is on his way to a third straight spring of sitting out the postseason with the Knicks.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE KNICKS (27-40): New York has dropped 18 of its last 25 games to fall out of the postseason race in the East and is 1-2 so far on its six-game road trip after falling to the Los Angeles Clippers 101-94 on Friday. Anthony continues to log heavy minutes for the Knicks and played 43 minutes – his 12th straight game logging 31 or more – and scored 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting. The Knicks got a total of 63 points and 29 rebounds from the frontcourt starters on Friday but continue to struggle in the backcourt, where Jose Calderon and Sasha Vujacic combined to go 4-of-14 from the field.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (14-52): Bryant (shoulder) has only played in three of the last seven games but came out of his 32-minute performance on Thursday without a setback. Bryant is getting plenty of help from rookie guard D’Angelo Russell, who scored 24 points on Thursday and has gone over 20 points in seven of the last eight contests. "You can't teach experience," Russell told reporters after Thursday’s game. "The experience kind of separates you. Different coverages, you start to recognize them. You know how to attack them.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Knicks G Arron Afflalo (abdominal) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.
2. Lakers F Brandon Bass scored in double figures in eight of the last 11 games.
3. New York has taken three straight in the series, including a 101-94 at Los Angeles last season.