Kobe Bryant misses 3rd straight game with sore shoulder

The Los Angeles Lakers play host to the Phoenix Suns tonight at Staples Center.

The Lakers won their first two games without Bryant, and they faced the Warriors on their first three-game winning streak since February. And, God willing, he’s going to want to play every game and he’s going to want to play a lot of minutes in every game, because that’s just the way he is. “So I take that as it’s not nothing to worry about right now”. By that time, the Lakers can do whatever they wish with a probably $60 million in cap room, as reported by Los Angeles Times, and they can use such on high profile free agents to bolster the lineup.

For much of the 2015-16 season, the Los Angeles Lakers have been trying to balance the development of their younger players while also celebrating Kobe Bryant, who is retiring after his 20th campaign in the National Basketball Association. “Adrenaline is a powerful thing”. “I felt it a few times here and there, trying to rotate on defense and move my feet. I’ll be fine”, Nance Jr. said.

John Wall, who led Washington with 14 points, hit just six of his 21 field goal attempts. “I wake up the next day and think about the future and get excited again”. “It’s going to be a really sad moment when we look at our roster sheet, and you go down the sheet and Kobe Bryant’s name is not going to be on it”. Sometimes, teams beat us that we feel shouldn’t, so we didn’t care about answering them in this game.

It’s nearly somewhat comical that a paragraph recapping Kobe’s injury situation is followed by news that the Lakers have strung together three wins in a row – including the last two without him.

But pointing to that as the primary cause for the loss, and not the abysmal shooting throughout the game from Ish Smith, Canaan, and Stauskas would be inaccurate. “They went 5 for 30”, coach Brett Brown said. But Huertas and World Peace both downplayed uncertainty on whether the Lakers will retain them after this week to make their contracts guaranteed. Yet, Scott argued Huertas’ lack of playing time has more to do with the Lakers’ loaded backcourt of D’Angelo Russell, Lou Williams and Jordan Clarkson. Russell had six points and five assists in 26 minutes. He has played once since then, managing four points and three rebounds in 20 minutes in a 112-79 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs on December 30. The Lakers’ three victories have come against Boston, the 76ers and now the Suns – the last two without Bryant, who continues to experience pain in his surgically repaired right shoulder.

The Lower Merion High alum had surgery to fix a torn rotator cuff on the same shoulder last January, causing him to miss the final 35 games of the 2014-15 season.

In the second half the Lakers continued to score easily, which is something they haven’t done all season. The Sixers now gave a four-win lead over the Lakers for the worst record in the league.

Anthony Brown, who started for Bryant, praised Thompson.

76ers: At Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.