With the help of Kobe Bryant's 30 points, Los Angeles Lakers get past Washington Wizards 102-96 on Friday night.
During his 44 minutes in the field of play, Bryant also had seven assists and seven rebounds and two steals.
When the Lakers won the game, Attorney General Eric Holder went to locker-room to know how Bryant was doing after so much hard work.
''I'm beat up,'' Bryant answered, who sat at his locker with a cold pack on his bothersome back, wraps on both knees and feet in a plastic tub filled with water and ice. ''Trucking along, though.''
The win ended the four games losing streak for the Lakers, but their coach Mike D'Antoni termed it as a foundation of future victories and asserted the need of hard work for his players.
''We're not there yet, we're not even close. We're not close to being a good team,'' the Associated Press quoted D'Antoni as saying. ''But can you build on it? I hope so.''
For the Lakers, Jodie Meeks scored 24 points and chipped in five rebounds, Dwight Howard had 12 points and 14 rebounds, Metta World Peace finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
For the Wizards, reserve Cartier Martin was the top scorer with season-high 21 points and eight rebounds, Nene Hilario and Martell Webster scored 17 points apiece, while Kevin Seraphin contributed with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Los Angeles outscored the Wizards 27-25 in the first quarter. The Lakers made 31 points against Washington's 30 in the second, but in the third quarter, the Lakers completely outclassed the opponents 25-14.
Washington had some opportunity in the game when they were leading by nine points in the first half, but the Lakers' did not allow them to continue with that lead for long.
D'Antoni's game strategy was successful today; he stressed that he wanted his team members to play in a rhythm.
''I felt like we had a pretty good feel of how Mike, today at morning brunch, kind of communicated how he wanted the offense to flow. Moving the ball, and if you have a shot, take it. If not, continue to let the ball hop,'' Bryant said. ''We got the message. We did a pretty good job of it. That's why you saw Meeks have a big game.''
Both the teams faced each other with some regular names missing from the playing squad. For example, the Lakers did not have Steve Nash, Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill, while Trevor Ariza, Trevor Booker and A.J. Price were out of the Wizards playing team.
The Lakers had 10-point run in the third quarter to take substantial lead over the rivals. Then Bryant scored eight straight points, including two free throws, a 12-foot jumper, in the second 10-point rally to take his team to the verge of victory.
The Lakers were leading by 83-69 at the end of the third quarter, but the Wizards fought back in the fourth. Washington outscored the Lakers 19-27 in the fourth quarter, but still lost the game by six points.
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