The Raptors hosted the Los Angeles Lakers for their third game into an eight-game, 13-city road trip.
Kobe Bryant missed a last-second jump shot and fell one assist shy of his first triple-double of the season, scoring 27 points and grabbing career-high 16 rebounds. Bryant, who shot 11 for 24, has 16 career triple-doubles.
“I just wanted to get a good look,” Bryant said. “I wanted to raise up, put enough arc on the ball. It felt pretty good, it just came up a little bit short.”
Bryant took an inbound pass from Luke Walton but his fadeaway jumper rimmed out as the Lakers lost for the second time in three games, 105-106
Pau Gasol scored 22 points, Andrew Bynum had 21.
Jordan Farmar, who scored 17 points, praised Bryant’s efforts.
“He’s the best finisher in the game, that’s what he does,” Farmar said. “He lives for those moments. We’re happy to have him in those situations, we just don’t want to put him there too much.”
