NBA wRap: Kobe makes history again

MANILA, Philippines – Kobe Bryant made another entry in the NBA’s history books and led his team to a much-needed victory against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, November 19. In other games, the Bucks won a battle against the Knicks, the Jazz outlasted the Thunder, and the Pelicans beat the Kings. All that and more in today’s 4-game NBA wRap:

Los Angeles Lakers (2-9) 114 – Atlanta Hawks (5-5) 109
LAL: Kobe Bryant: 28 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
ATL: Paul Millsap: 29 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 rebounds

Kobe Bryant made history against the Atlanta Hawks, and this time it wasn’t for being known as the player with most misses in NBA history.

Late in the fourth quarter, Bryant hit a beauty of a turnaround jumper that not only created some separation between LA and Atlanta, 107-102, but also put his career scoring total to 32,000 points.

Michael Jordan had 32,292 in his career, and if Bryant stays healthy he might just overtake His Airness.

Nick Young returned to action on Wednesday, scoring 17 points off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting. LA is now 1-0 with Young in the lineup, and according to him, he and his “swag” were the reason why they beat the Hawks. 

Tweet of the Day:

Quote of the night from Nick Young (of course): “It’s like my swag just rubbed off on everybody. It was unbelievable.”

— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) November 19, 2014

This wasn’t in any way an acceptable loss for the Hawks. They’re now 5-5, which is below the expectations many had for them entering the season. One positive that did came out of the loss was this Highlight of the Day from Millsap, who’s been balling lately for Atlanta:

 

Milwaukee Bucks (6-5) 117 – 113 New York Knicks (3-9)
MIL: Zaza Pachulia: 14 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists
NYK: Iman Shumpert: 21 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists

The Knicks and Bucks were tied at 30 after the first quarter. A little into the second period, Carmelo Anthony and company were ahead by one, 40-39. Then the Bucks dominated on both ends of the floor and outscored New York, 36-19, the rest of the quarter.

New York rallied to make the game interesting late in the final period, but Milwaukee held on for the win. The Bucks had 7 players score in double figures, and have an above .500 record for the first time since last season. It looks more and more like Head Coach Jason Kidd made a smart decision over the summer ditching the Brooklyn for Milwaukee, even if it was very despicable.

Anthony finished with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Tim Hardaway Jr. looked a lot like his old man in key stretches, finishing with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. But the star for the Knicks was Shumpert, who besides narrowly missing a triple-double, also had this highlight play:

(His hairstyle is also pretty nice.)  

Utah Jazz (5-7) 98 – Oklahoma City Thunder 81 (3-9)
UTA: Alec Burks: 20 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists
OKC: Jeremy Lamb: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists

OKC was up 23-14 after the first quarter but struggled on offense the rest of the game. In total, the team shot 36% from the field and went only 68% from the free throw line. Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb finished with a combined 29 points on 9-of-34 shooting. 

Get well soon, KD and Russ!

New Orleans Pelicans (6-4) 106 – 100 Sacramento Kings (6-5)
NOP: Anthony Davis: 28 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals
SAC: DeMarcus Cousins: 24 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks

Late in the third quarter, Jrue Holiday thought he had an open lane to the rim. However, Cousins gave him a harsh dose of reality, and a nice block to think about for the rest of the day: 

Holiday’s team, nonetheless, came away with the win thanks to another stellar outing out of Davis, who’s now averaging a very impressive 25.5 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 3.9 BPG, 2.3 SPG, and 2.0 APG this season. 

Ryan Anderson also performed well, putting up 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 4 rebounds.

Fantasy Line of the Day: Once again, Anthony Davis takes home the award. The New Orleans big man finished with 28 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers. He didn’t have any assists, but was an efficient 11-of-19 from the field and 6-of-8 from the foul line. The most impressive part is that he’s only 21 years old. – Rappler.com