Kobe Bryant comes back, delivers another dagger
Don’t act surprised. While Kobe Bryant‘s first game back from an almost three-week layoff had other interesting story lines — Andrew Bynum returning to his personal Waterloo (Memphis), the Grizzlies trying to stay above .500 and in the playoff picture, the Gasol vs. Gasol matchup — in the end it was all about K.O.B.E. On his way to an efficient 32 points (13-19 FG), Kobe scored the last nine for the Lakers, including a game-tying three with just under a minute to go. After Rudy Gay responded with a J to give Memphis the lead, it came down to L.A. trailing by two with the ball and eight seconds left … Now, the last time Kobe was in Memphis, Lionel Hollins had a great strategy to switch Marc Gasol onto him on the last play. That time, Younger Gasol’s height forced Kobe to pass to Ron Artest, who bricked the big shot. This time, Rudy was sticking Kobe on the baseline, and as he ran around a screen set by Older Gasol, Rudy went under and Younger Gasol didn’t step up. So in essence Kobe (7 rebs, 6 asts, 3 stls) got a wide-open trey, which he calmly buried with four seconds left. One O.J. Mayo miss later, and book another game-winner for the Mamba … The Grizzlies made two too many mistakes on defense. On Kobe’s earlier three, Mayo (25 pts) went under a Pau screen and left Kobe too much room, and then on the last one they got killed by going under the screen again. That’s like sticking your chin out at Joe Frazier and daring him to swing. Odds are you’ll get put on your ass … Speaking of knocking somebody down, the Cavs needed to do that to Marcus Thornton. The rookie went bonkers on Cleveland, dropping 37 points (15-22 FG) in only 31 minutes off the bench as the Hornets nearly pulled off the upset. After Thornton scored 23 in the second quarter, Cavs announcer Austin Carr said, “Once in a while when Thornton drives, you gotta put him on his, um, can.” Thornton was just too quick for any guard to keep up with and often got in the air before the bigs could react. And from the fourth quarter to the first, he never slowed down … Mo Williams and Delonte West were getting smoked all night by Thornton and Darren Collison (22 pts, 10 asts), but fortunately for them, they stepped up and hit back-to-back threes late in the fourth that helped Cleveland escape with the win … Looks like Antawn Jamison‘s hazing period is over. Cracking the starting lineup for the first time since the trade, Jamison had 18 points, and has already developed a chemistry with LeBron, who continually found him as he moved without the ball. One time LeBron (20 pts, 13 asts) hit Jamison with a no-look pass on the break and Jamison literally hurdled David West while dunking on him. It was straight nuts-on-back-neck … Funny moment when LeBron threw a tricky between-the-legs pass that fooled the ref so hard, he blew the whistle anticipating a travel. Carr couldn’t stop cracking up, but D-West wasn’t amused: He sat on the bench for a minute looking like somebody had just stolen his car … The Nate Robinson/Eddie House Bowl was a letdown as far as the two namesakes were concerned, but otherwise a competitive game. Nate and Eddie scored 4 points apiece as Boston held off a Knicks team that looked totally different from the previous night’s blowout loss to Milwaukee … The Knicks just can’t stop anybody’s point guard. Rajon Rondo posted 15 points, 16 dimes and 3 steals and basically got into the paint whenever he felt like it, which killed NY down the stretch as he was able to draw the D and set up guys for easy buckets. One time Nate just walked up on House and dropped a jumper, which isn’t supposed to happen when you’re guarding somebody who’s 5-foot-8 … With Steve Nash (back, abdomen) sidelined for Suns/Thunder, somebody else had to hit the big shot. Tied up with 13 seconds left, Jason Richardson was iso’d on Thabo Sefolosha. When J-Rich (20 pts, 13 rebs) went into his move, Thabo decided to go for a steal and J-Rich took advantage, getting around him easily and dropping a floater with 0.7 on the clock. OKC couldn’t get the rock to Kevin Durant (36 pts) on their end, and Jeff Green‘s attempt didn’t fall … Other stat lines from Tuesday: Brandon Roy scored 28 to lead Portland past New Jersey; Lou Williams put up 26 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists as Philly beat Golden State; Kevin Love‘s 17 points and 12 boards helped Minnesota beat Miami, offsetting Dorell Wright‘s career night of 26 points, 6 threes, 7 boards and 3 steals; and Rip Hamilton continued his hot streak, dropping 30 points to knock off Sacramento … Uh-oh. In the final seconds of that Kings/Pistons game, the cameras caught Tyreke Evans (28 pts, 13 asts) laughing and smiling on the court during a dead ball. If Tyreke were playing in Toronto and later left the team, they’d never let him hear the end of that one … We’re out like going under the screen …
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February 24th, 2010 at 3:46 am
raf says:
reallll early smack
February 24th, 2010 at 4:12 am
darkdefender says:
welcome back Mamba
February 24th, 2010 at 4:12 am
me says:
so when is chris paul getting traded? collison seems to be doing his best cp3 impression, and he’s a heluva lot cheaper……..
February 24th, 2010 at 4:42 am
alf (from melmak) says:
With Phoenix and Portland winning their games, the western division standings just got crazier.
Can we just collectively wish for the Lakers to go on some sort of losing streak to make the stretch run more dramatic?
My meal allowance will be used on burgers today. No diet for the stressed out.
Top 100 reasons why Dime should hire me as a regular writer:
98 – Even when I was still a grade school student, I was already devotedly watching a Hubie Brown television show that teaches basketball fundamentals.
February 24th, 2010 at 4:54 am
davros says:
You posted an article a week or so ago about CP3′s knee which sounded like microfracture surgery was inevitable at some point in the future. If NO is wanting to go cheap then maybe sell CP3 while he can get you a lot – maybe a trade with some of the teams who don’t get their superstar in free agency?
February 24th, 2010 at 4:58 am
realist says:
DAT BOI COLD……
February 24th, 2010 at 5:24 am
K Dizzle says:
Lakers keep rollin….
And ain’t nobody gonna be mad at Reke cuz he plays harder than Vince, he goes to the rack hard and he’s just a rookie so he should enjoy himself…for now. When that team starts to get crushed, the smiles’ll fade. You’d be smilin too if u stole Landry from Houston. Member him laughin when he shot the airball and JR Smith took it outta bounds for the inbounds? Classic JR lol
February 24th, 2010 at 5:43 am
Khalvin says:
Kobe is back, hopefully he takes it a little easy till playoff.
Why you got to come after Toronto??? Vince deserved every bit of venom he got, his list of BBall transgressions were numerous.
Cheap shot man. *SMH*
Raw Talent of the Day
http://www.onthenet.biz/2010/02/raw-talent-of-day_18.html
February 24th, 2010 at 5:49 am
Orickle says:
STOP RIBBING >TORONTO FANS!!!, cmon dime!.
But yeah, dat Kobe Bryant boi be ice cold!
February 24th, 2010 at 6:41 am
Flip says:
Haha funny segment about those Toronto fans… love em, but still.. they have a tendency to whine a litte once in a while
February 24th, 2010 at 8:17 am
bigdoggchad says:
Kobe is deadly in those situations, but no mention of the refs helping with that moving screen call on Marc Gasol, and technical on Hollins right after with about a minute thirty left.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:31 am
KWAME says:
What do they mean by Bynum’s personal waterloo?
February 24th, 2010 at 8:33 am
POPPI GEE says:
Wasn’t going to watch the game but with Kobe coming back it just had a special feel to it. As time is winding down, I told my wife that Memphis was giving LA to many chances and Kobe was going to come back and kill em.
Well you know the results. When you got LA on the ropes you have to, HAVE TO knock them out, cause if you let them live they will bust that …well you know the results.
Kobe so used to that stuff now (hitting game winners) that ain’t even no big thing. Remember when Kobe would do the big balls dance to early, and then lose lol.
Toronto fans just give your team to one of the states in the US lol.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:42 am
Scott says:
LOL at the Evans comment, cuz in Sac-Town nobody cares. lol.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Ian says:
bad break there at the end for memphis when they blocked kobes shot nice game for the lakers
February 24th, 2010 at 8:48 am
Chaos says:
Kobe has ice water in his veins…just friggin cold man…
was anyone else suprisedthat Antwan Jamison actually rose up and put it down on D. West like that. he usually goes for some awkward ass layup. dude was trying to make a point cuz that shit was outta no where
i dont care how well collison is playing, do you really wanna get rid of CP3 because as soon as he hits free agency, people will be losing their minds trying to get him paired up with someone
February 24th, 2010 at 8:51 am
ticktock6 says:
Chris Paul is a lot more efficient than Collison and isn’t having microfracture surgery because he doesn’t have a microfracture.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:19 am
Chicagorilla says:
I was at a buffalo wild wings watching all the games on TV. and we saw that Laker game and saw that Kobe was back.
[side note] why do stars always wait come back from injury against mediocre teams and not top teams
Kobe got busy. Once I saw the game was close in the 4th, I already knew the drill. and of course Kobe came with it. Sometimes I don’t like the dude for some of the over hype, but man I gotta give him respect when he does ish like this. Sick.
Darren Collison for ROTY. Reke will win it even though he shouldn’t be considered because his team isn’t close to playoff contention. Jennings and Collison should be the only ones considered. And Collison will lose it if CP3 comes back. Which means if Jennings leads his team to the playoffs, he should easily take home the ROTY.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Xavier says:
You guys got it wrong. It was OJ covering Kobe in that last possession (not Rudy), which ONLY happened because Marc Gasol blocked a Kobe layup seconds before and Rudy couldn’t hold onto the loose ball.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Tbest says:
@ #12
It’s Bynum’s waterloo because his last two season’s have ended with injuries at Memphis. I know he played in the playoffs last year, but he wasn’t his real self.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:14 am
Chicagorilla says:
@xavier,
Kobe hit that three with Rudy Gay running at him. OJ Mayo was running the baseline with Ron Artest. which is why Rudy went under the screen to help OJ in case Ron had him beat. Which I guess he though he could recover in time if Kobe got the ball. Which was stupid on Rudy’s part.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:19 am
Jay says:
Its amazing what fresh legs and a little rest will do for ya. When Kobe was all beat up,worn down, and injured the first time they played them in Memphis before the all-star break someone foolishly wrote that grizzlies contained and shutdown the Mamba. I shook my head then and Im shaking my head now because I was looking for that same shut down D*crickets* last night w/ a fresh Kobe. Scoreboard beyotches! Neeeeext!
@Chicagorilla He came back agaisnt the grizzlies because before the allstar break they lost to the grizz and every whichaway including here on dime all you heard was how they shut down the Mamba(not really) and that is nothing but bulletin board material for competitors like Kobe ala MJ…Both notorius for using anything to get an edge agaisnt the competition #Lesson:watch what you say and who you say it about. It might come back and bite you in the azz ala the grizz last nite.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Roman says:
It never gets old watchin dude just kill the crowd like that. Playoffs are gonna be fun!!!
February 24th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Paul Wall says:
When Melo came back from his injury he came back against Dallas and waxed them by 30+
February 24th, 2010 at 11:50 am
LakeShow84 says:
That shit is just sick.. say what you about Kobe but.. but DAMN.. and the 7reb with 6ass dont hurt either RIGHT DIME?? and wide open or not it takes BALLS to knock down a dagger/game winner.. I’ve seen players get plenty of open looks but brick their share.. always down playing shit..
Ill second Romans comment.. CROWD KILLER lol aint nothing like watching an opposing teams crowd DEFLATE.. i mean damn half these game winners been on others courts.. Bostons was orgasmic lol
JUST. PLAIN. SICK.
@ All The Clutch Know It Alls (IAN lol)
So what does 82games.com got to say now?? Is Vince Carter still the SCARIEST person in the clutch?? or how about Iggy?? hes the hardest come crunch time right?? Come on somebody say it please..
February 24th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Mr. BBall says:
“Funny moment when LeBron threw a tricky between-the-legs pass that fooled the ref so hard, he blew the whistle anticipating a travel. Carr couldn’t stop cracking up, but D-West wasn’t amused: He sat on the bench for a minute looking like somebody had just stolen his car”
D-WEST DAVID OR DELONTE???
“The Knicks just can’t stop anybody’s point guard……. One time Nate just walked up on House and dropped a jumper, which isn’t supposed to happen when you’re guarding somebody who’s 5-foot-8 …”
UM, WHEN DID E HOUSE GROW TO BE A 6-FOOT-5 DEFNESIVE SPECIALIST??
I LOVE YOU DIME BUT REALLY.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
davros says:
CP3 has not had microfracture but I remember reading a report that indicated that the surgery which he required would need partial removal of a ligiment which would, over time, result in the bone rubbing on bone, which would then need microfracture surgery
February 24th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
nola says:
if the hornets are going to do anything, they’re going to package peja with collison to get a great wing player. just because collison’s doing well doesn’t mean they’re going to just trade cp3. the backups do well during times of injury so you just start sending out your starters? not to mention, your franchise player? negative..
February 24th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
JH says:
Alf:
Are there really 97 more reasons that I’ll have to scroll past on my daily read? Best of luck…but I don’t think that persistence will ever be confused with talent.
Sincerely,
From one basketball fan to another
February 24th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
POPPI GEE says:
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/02/22/carl-landry-admits-to-being-blindsided-by-trade-from-houston/?ncid=txtlnkusspor00000002
Somewhere Carl and TMac need to point at The Rockets coach and GM and do the whole Whoopi Goldberg thing in color purple.
Until you do right by me, everything you even think about gonna fail!
February 24th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
ticktock6 says:
@ nola
I suspect by the trade deadline next year that might be exactly what they look to do. I wish DC would stay, but… I think long-term he sees himself as an NBA starter. You can’t really blame him.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Ian says:
lakeshow
i hope you didnt bring up the 82games and vince carter because of me. i did mention that kobe hits around 20% of game winners because its a fact not something i made up like kobe lovers sayin hes a sure thing with GAME WINNERS not clutch situations. btw 82games does have kobe bron and manu as the best the past 5-6 years combined in CLUTCH SITUATIONS not game winners only. now of the three kobe is the one that shoots less than 50 percent. this season all kobe and you guys can say everything you want. by your post even you seem surprised at what hes doing but according to you guys and espn he makes them all so whats the diff now?
you know my post is all in good fun so please no more kobe it hasnt been a good season for me lol
ps fuck you richard jefferson
roman
what playoffs?? im waiting for next season to start lol well i hope the spurs slide down to 8th so at least i can see them play the lakers.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
eyes says:
It’s funny to me. That our 2 leaders in the R.O.Y. lost to the Sixers & Pistons. Stat lines are beautiful but Wins mean most. Just want to throw that out there. Also I keep hearing about Brandon’s struggles on the offensive(SCORING) side. Though he’s still able to run his deep team. That’s what true PG’S do. Please bear with him. He plays for Skiles. Not an easy to thing to do. Some coaches are just impossible to please. I wish the Grizzlies would have took my young boy.
Had he put up Tyreke’s or Curry’s stats. He’d be blasted for not winning or just looking for the award. FUNNY. Darren Collison also needs some more love. He’s been real steady & savvy. Proud of him. Jrue Holiday on the other hand. WOW.
Point Guards come around every so often. The scouts & experts have no clue as to picking them though.
Also how is Sherron Collins the best player on & leading Kansas to a #1 seed. Yet he gets no pub from College or N.B.A. I guess that’s the Stevie Wonder. Willie Warren at Oklahoma & John Wall being a #1 pick. Is the reason why kids don’t stay in school. Stop lying to yourself people.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
wifey says:
Kobe doin work, and Steph Curry should get the ROY
February 24th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
LakeShow84 says:
@ Ian
Nah not just for you but during our many clutch arguements people actually acted like there is a DEBATE.. and there isnt lol i mean seriously.. also this isnt surprising it just is what it be, THIS IS WHY PLAYERS/COACHES/GM’s/MOMS/POPS/ETC all say Kobe is the sickest in the clutch.. and they damn sure didnt just start saying that this year..
like i said everyone down playing everything with the man..
some players go a WHOLE CAREER with 1 or 2 and here we have the sickest player possibly EVER in a do or die situation and i have to listen to people pop out their necks with “VC is so CLUTCH”.. sorry you guys cant really appreciate it is all..
And wait a minute im confused..
So you dont like RJ now right
dude ur a Spurs fans who got to watch the hardest PF EVER suit up and play.. Be happy.. shit the Spurs are 4rd in chips behind ONLY LA, ChiTown and Boston and its all from Timmay..
I’d still be cheesing like a mofo if i were you lol
February 24th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
K Dizzle says:
Just to clear up some fiction I been readin on posts today:
1) Microfracture surgery has nothing to do with the knee ligaments. It’s to replace the cartilage in the knees. It takes at least 2 years to see the full benefits cuz after drillin the bone and leakin out some blood and marrow, the blood clot has cells that create cartilage over time. Kinda why J Kidd is a miracle of nature cuz the surgery ain’t really effective for a player so late in his career.
You can thank my tuition for that info.
2) Whether Collison wanna leave or not, the Hornets own his ass, if they want, for at least the next 3 seasons since they got the team options for yrs 3 and 4
I’m out like Miami, Sacramento, Milwaukee, Boston and Memphis with the ball in Kobe’s hands at crunchtime
February 24th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Gabriel Brogden says:
Arguing if Kobe is clutch is like arguing the color of white rice.
I was disappointed in the House vs Nate battle.
Even though it was funny to see a whole quarter go by and see House absolutely NOT shoot the ball.
Collison and Thornton straight trashing the Cavs last night.
Wow.
Peja sh**ed bricks like a drug mule.
David West got owned by Cleveland’s new guy.
So did Emeka. DEFINITELY Emeka.
Only good thing he did was go at Shaq when Shaq had 4 pfs.
Posey was OFF.
The only two that came to play were the NO rookies.
…which was quite fun to watch.
Thornton was looking like Jennings out there.
BUCKET after BUCKET after BUCKET…and this was in the 2nd!
Funny thing no one mentioned, Lebron had a SORRY AZZ game. Except for crunchtime, his shot was off. He was forced to pass. Crazy, Bron’s sh*tty game is 20 pts and 13 dimes, wow. Shaq was in trouble most of the game. Parker did his job. Mo’s shot was way off and he was gettin’ scorched. Mariachi was steady but he’ll do something that’ll make you scratch your head.
Cavs was tryna get a win. Basically had a 7 man rotation with the occasional Moon sighting. The fact they played with a 7 man ro, no true back up center, absorbed a MONSTER 2nd quarter from NO, off-game from their star and won by 10 speaks volume to their depth. If they don’t win this year it’s gonna be, “But damn he couldn’t get the chip?? They damn near gave him everything he wanted, everything he needed. He’s over-rated.”
EHHH, Holiday is BALLIN!
Add HIM to the UCLA list who is ‘GETTING IT’
Gitterdone son.
February 24th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Ian says:
lakeshow
timmeh and dave spoiled me man