ATLANTA - Kobe Bryant had been fairly quiet in the second half, attempting only one shot.
But in the fourth quarter, with the Atlanta Hawks surging and threatening to deny the Lakers' their second win of the season, Bryant began to turn it up.
Did he feel added responsibility in a close game?
'Yeah,' he said, 'it's my job.'
Bryant scored nine of his 28 points in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 114-109 win at Philips Arena, but his turnaround jumper with 1:11 left, to put the Lakers up 107-102, had additional significance. It moved him past 32,000 career points, putting him in elite company with only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Michael Jordan.
'It means a lot, I can't stress how much work it is just to be in this position to be able to get out there and play,' said Bryant, 36. 'It's a lot of work, man. Over 19 years that's really where I take enjoyment from it, is the process. It's a lot of work over 19 years and it feels really good to have that accomplishment.'
Bryant is just 291 points behind Jordan (32,292) for third on the all-time scoring list, a mark he'll likely have by mid-December. Bryant is averaging a league-high 27.4 points.
His 19th season has been marked by high-volume shooting and less desirable accomplishments. A week earlier, he set the record for misses in a career.
But Tuesday he was vastly more efficient, making 10 of 18 from the field.
And it has a team-wide impact, Nick Young said.
'It rubs off, like tonight,' Young said, citing a fourth-quarter basket in which Bryant seemed to channel Abdul-Jabbar as one at which to marvel. 'I was saying in my head when he did that left-hand hook shot, 'He's Kobe Bryant.' He is one of the greatest players to play this game, if not the greatest, in my mind.'
YOUNG STRONG IN RETURN
Young had not shot a 3-pointer in a game since April. Imagine how frustrating that must be for a player whose entire NBA identity - self-proclaimed and not - is based on making 3-pointers.
In his season debut after missing most of the preseason and the first 10 games of the regular season because of thumb surgery, Young didn't have to wait long. He checked into the game with 5:55 remaining in the first half, and after missing his first 3-point attempt, buried one with eight-tenths of a second remaining in the quarter to give the Lakers a 31-20 lead.
'I can score,' Young joked after the game.
Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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