The Kings were the Lakers’ biggest foil throughout much of Kobe’s career and both sides waged war on numerous occasions. As the years went on, the Kings fell off, but that didn’t stop Kobe from torching them, as he did on New Year’s Day in 2010.

The Lakers trailed by 15 at the half, but would climb back into the game late. They were forced to foul Ime Udoka, down two, but the Kings forward missed both free throws, giving the Lakers the ball back with just four seconds left.

Head coach Phil Jackson drew up the perfect play. The ball was inbounded to Pau Gasol and at the same time, Kobe would set a brutal back pick on Sergio Rodriguez and then flare to the corner where he was wide open.

Kobe caught the pass, set his feet, and launched a perfect 3-pointer just before the clock ran out, to give the Lakers a 109-108 victory over the Kings.

Bryant finished with 39 points, five rebounds, and five assists while also hitting five 3-pointers. The Lakers were also helped by their huge frontcourt.

Both Gasol (17 points, 16 rebounds) and Lamar Odom (20 points, 10 rebounds) recorded double-doubles while Andrew Bynum also added 16 points of his own. The Kings were led by Spencer Hawes’ 30 points and 11 rebounds as well as 19 points and 13 assists from Beno Udrih.

In the end, this game was all about Kobe, who added another clutch shot to his highlight reel. The Kings should have known not to leave him open, but Kobe always finds a way.

Kobe Bryant ranks third in career buzzer-beaters

Throughout his illustrious career, Bryant made eight total buzzer-beaters, tied for second in league history behind only Michael Jordan (nine) and even with LeBron James.

Seven of Bryant’s buzzer-beaters came in the regular season while one came in the playoffs against the Phoenix Suns in 2006.

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Yet, on this day in Lakers history, it wasn’t a superstar who shined the brightest. Instead, it was a role player long-known for his defensive skills that managed to go on a scoring spree that ultimately defeated the Celtics.

It was June 4, 1987, the date of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. With all eyes fixed on legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Kevin McHale, it was something of a shock when lockdown defender Michael Cooper went on a tear.

The Celtics went into game two hoping to slow down Johnson, who had erupted in Game 1 for 29 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists to go with zero turnovers. Boston assigned Danny Ainge with the task of guarding Johnson, though it was futile.

The Lakers held just a four-point lead coming out of the first quarter, but they then went on a 20-10 run in the second that blew the game open.

Amazingly, on a floor that featured some of the greatest talents to ever lace up their high tops on an NBA floor, it was Cooper who either scored or assisted on all 20 points during that critical run. Cooper would eventually finish the game with 21 points including 6-of-7 from three, nine assists, and three steals in just 26 minutes.

Michael Cooper & Lakers set records

Coopers six 3-pointers set what was then an NBA Finals record. That spark, combined with another stellar performance from Johnson who dropped 22 points and 20 assists, allowed the Lakers to cruise to a 141-122 victory.

Johnson’s 20 assists were one shy of tying his own NBA Finals record, while the Lakers shot 61.5 percent from the field which at the time set a record for highest in the Finals.

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With it being so early in the season though, that doesn’t mean that Redick won’t make tweaks if he feels he can improve his rotation.

That was the case in Friday night’s win over the Toronto Raptors and Redick switched up the minutes of his starting backcourt. To start the season, LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell had been the first ones to sub out in the first quarter with Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis staying on for a majority of the frame.

Against Toronto though, Redick switched it up so Reaves subbed out first while Russell stayed on with Davis and the second unit, giving him an opportunity to operate with the ball in his hands more.

It seemed to work as Davis had one of his best games, as did Russell, who finished with 19 points, three rebounds and six assists.

After the game, Redick discussed that rotation change and the reason behind it, via Jovan Buha of The Athletic:

JJ Redick said he adjusted the rotation tonight to put the ball in D’Angelo Russell’s hands more next to Anthony Davis. That also resulted in Austin Reaves and LeBron James playing more together, with Redick noting their two-man chemistry.

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) November 2, 2024

Austin Reaves said that JJ Redick approached him and D’Angelo Russell this morning about adjusting the rotation and both were on board with the change. https://t.co/D7h7qSqfhp

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) November 2, 2024

Redick will likely continue to experiment moving forward until he finds what works best for the Lakers, especially with injured players like Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood set to return at some point.

The hope is that he will be able to settle on something quickly though so the Lakers players can get comfortable in their respective roles, which is something Redick is very familiar with considering he is a former player himself.

JJ Redick discusses second half slippage against Raptors

While JJ Redick’s rotation change did wonders in the first half against the Raptors as the team jumped out to a 26-point lead, they struggled in the second half and let an inferior opponent back in the game. Redick discussed what went wrong for the Lakers after halftime while also giving credit to Toronto.
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The 131 points tied a season-high for the Lakers, who jumped out to a 26-point lead in the first half before slipping defensively in the second half to let the Raptors back in it.

Overall though, it was the Lakers’ best offensive performance of the young season and a big reason for that was their ball movement. The Lakers had 29 assists on 42 made field goes with James leading the way with 10.

After the win, LeBron praise the Lakers for their ball movement and unselfishness, via Spectrum SportsNet

“We have the ability to have five threats on the floor at one time and if the defense shift then we make the extra pass and that was a bi-product of that. I was able to hit Rui for the first one on a 3 and then DLo, hit him, I was able to hit AR on the baseline and then swing, swing, pass to DLo. It was all execution.”

After their losses to the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers, the Lakers were able to get back on the practice floor and work on some of their issues, which James believes was beneficial:

“We had an opportunity to get on the floor and get some practice in, really dive in on the film and see the things that we were not doing well in those two games, the regression that we had. Today we took two steps forward, so that’s a good sign for our ballclub.”

Despite not playing their best basketball to start the road trip, the Lakers have a 4-2 record and some very winnable games on the horizon.

It will take a while for this team to really hit its stride, but James knows it’s a work in progress and the goal is to rack up as many wins as possible along the way.

LeBron James to play with son Bryce in NBA?

This season has been a special one for LeBron James as he has gotten to team up with his oldest son Bronny, which had been a dream of his for a while.

James has another son Bryce that is currently a senior in high school and although it would mean playing at least two more seasons after this one, LeBron did not rule out the possibility of playing with Bryce in the NBA as well.

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It took L.A. three tries to win their first road game of the season, getting blown out by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the process. And when they finally did get that win, it was in underwhelming fashion against the Toronto Raptors. Already a rebuilding team, Toronto was without Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley and faced a 25-point halftime deficit.

But the Raptors were able to storm back in the second half and make things interesting, losing by only six points when the final buzzer rang. Despite finishing with 38 points and 11 rebounds on 14-for-20 from the field, Davis was deeply disappointed in the Lakers’ showing in the second half, as he explained in an interview with Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet:

“Unacceptable. Yeah, we won. And we’ll take the win for sure because it’s hard to win in this league, especially on the road, but we’re a long way from where we want to be. Having a big lead like that, giving them 31 points in the second, 38 in the third. If we’re going to do anything or have any aspirations of doing anything this season, we can’t allow that on the defensive end. We were able to get the win off of talent, but we weren’t able to do what we wanted to do on the defensive end and they got very comfortable coming out of halftime and made shots. And they were able to get back in the game.”

Davis went into specific details on what the Lakers could have done to avoid the Raptors comeback and what they need to focus on as they finish out a five-game road trip:

“Yeah, I mean we can’t let guys get comfortable. It’s the little details, offensive rebounding, transition a little bit. Our turnovers led to some easy buckets for them. We were able to prevail and get the win, but we’ll watch film. We’ve got a couple days before we go to Detroit, and we’re going to play a team that’s also hungry. We’ve got to clean up and get ready for them.”

One thing that separates good teams from great teams is their ability to put away the younger rebuilding teams. One of the league’s elite would have built up the 26-point lead and likely kept it there for the duration of the second half. The Lakers have the potential to be there given how quickly they stormed ahead, but need to find a way to not get complacent.

Davis has been stellar to start the year, and if he is demanding more from himself and his teammates, then that should spark a fire under the roster.

JJ Redick discusses Lakers’ slippage

The Lakers could have easily run away with Friday’s game against the Raptors. They led 43-19 after the first quarter and 76-51 at halftime. Had they kept their foot on the gas pedal, head coach JJ Redick could have breezed his way to his first ever road win.

Instead, the Lakers let the Raptors right back into the game with a 37-point third quarter and a repeat effort in the fourth.

The Lakers ultimately secured the win anyways, but it’s not how they would have liked. Redick spoke about what went right for L.A. in the first half and how the Raptors were able to climb back into it.

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