Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott has worked with star shooting guard Kobe Bryant in an attempt to get him more rest and Scott believes the experiment is working.
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Bryant has been sitting some practices out and even sat out three games last week for L.A. in an attempt to stay fresh down the stretch this season.
After Bryan notched 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in his first game back against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday and put up 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets while averaging 32 minutes rather than around 37, Scott said he believes they're onto something.
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"So far, the experiment is working," Scott told ESPN. "We're just going to keep at it and see how it turns out."
Bryant sat out during practice for the second straight day on Thursday, but Scott expects him to play when the Lakers (10-22) host the Memphis Grizzlies (23-8) on Friday in their first game of the New Year.
"Kobe came in and got some shots up and got some treatment," Scott said after Thursday's practice. "He said he feels great, so we're going to stick to the plan. Tomorrow he's going to come in and get some more shots up, and we'll go through shootaround and go from there."
Bryant, 36, is in his 19th NBA season and has switched around his regimen this campaign after being limited to just six games in 2013-14 due to myriad injuries.
Scott said he speaks with Bryant daily even when he's not at practice and added that while people believe this is a "new" version of Bryant, he's still expected to keep shooting as much as he has in the past and the coach hopes he'll be more aggressive.
"When you guys say this is a new Kobe, this is not a new Kobe," Scott said. "This is a guy who's been doing this for 19 years. Against Denver [on Tuesday] there were times they were coming and double-teaming him and we kept our spacing, which was great, and made some great passes to guys who made shots. I don't think it's a new Kobe at all. It's just an old Kobe doing the same old things he's been doing."
While nothing with Bryant's new regimen is set in stone, Scott said the team will stick with what works as Bryant has looked fine with the extra rest and less playing time.
"The experiment is working extremely well. The days off and 32 minutes or lower in games has been working well, and we're going to stick with that right now."
Bryant is averaging 24.1 points, 5.2 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game through 29 contests and is currently among the league leaders in All-Star Game voting tallies.
The 2015 NBA All-Star Game takes place on Feb. 15 at the New York Knicks' home of Madison Square Garden in New York City.
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