On Sunday in Boston, Kobe Bryant hit fallaway jumper with 7.3 seconds left to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 90-89 victory over the Celtics, to hand them their sixth loss in eight games.
Bryant finished with 19, and Andrew Bynum had 19 points and 11 rebounds.
After Friday night’s game, Bryant complained of a stiff ankle, and it seemed to bother him during the game. Before Kobe made his big shot, he shot 8 for 20. Just then he made a move toward the basket before stepping back from Iverson and swishing the ball through the net to give LA the lead i the second half.
“He had a couple of looks before that that were good looks, and he didn’t put them in. We were mystified by that,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who tied Pat Riley atop the franchise coaching list with his 533rd win in Los Angeles. “He told me the next one was going to go in, so we went with him.”
Pau Gasol had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who won their fourth straight game and beat Boston for the third consecutive time.
“They smacked us two years ago,” Lakers forward Lamar Odom said. “It was a big game for us. This is a team that’s going to be battling to be coming out of the East.”
