For 20 years, Kobe Bryant has been showered by boos from the fans in each of his trips to Boston, and the beginning of the game was no different. But after hitting a clutch 3-pointer from way beyond the arc, the sold-out arena had a different response.
“Kobe! Kobe!” the TD Garden crowd chanted, as Bryant’s triple prevented a Celtics comeback in the Lakers’ 112-104 victory over their bitter rivals.
“Honestly, if I could chant for them, I would,” Bryant said after his final game in Boston. “I don’t think the fans here really understand how much they drove me. From the singing of the songs to the shaking of the bus. Long nights in the hotel.
“That stuff really stuck with me and drove me into maniacal proportions. So I don’t know if they really understand how much they meant to my career.”
Bryant began the game frigid, missing each of his first eight shots. But while his shot wasn’t there, the two-time scoring champion went to work on the glass, as he hauled in a season-high 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the year.
Meanwhile the starting backcourt of Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams — which went 6-of-27 in Los Angeles’ last game — combined to go 17-of-24 for 24 and 19 points, respectively.
The duo powered L.A.’s mid-game offensive explosion, as the purple and gold went off for 65 points in the second and third quarters of its last game of 2015.
“We were just moving the ball, having fun, playing free, really,” Clarkson said.
But Boston wouldn’t surrender its four-game winning streak to the hated Lakers without scrapping its way back.
Led by Evan Turner — who scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter alone — the Celtics scored nine unanswered to bring the Lakers’ lead back down to two.
A dunk by Avery Bradley shortly after made it a 104-102 lead for L.A., which saw its offense freeze up in the final quarter.
But Bryant — who finished the game with 15 points on a 5-of-18 mark — provided the night’s heroics, sinking a 28-foot, catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with two minutes remaining, which halted the Celtics’ comeback.
“I was thinking about using as much legs as possible,” he said, later noting that he couldn’t feel his shoulder at the time. “I couldn’t think about anything else in the moment.”
Young Kids Shine In addition to Clarkson’s game-high scoring total, the other young Lakers provided plenty of support in their first episode of this historic rivalry.
Coming off the bench, Julius Randle piled up 15 points and 12 rebounds for his team-best 13th double-double of the season. Meantime, D’Angelo Russell provided 16 points and six rebounds from the pine, as well.
“We know that the rivalry still stands, even though the Mamba (Bryant) is retiring,” Russell said. “That rivalry’s never gonna die. It’s something that we knew we had to live up to.”
You had to be there.
A photo posted by Lakers Scene (@lakersscene) on Dec 30, 2015 at 6:32pm PST
Shipping Out of Boston Bryant’s final game in Boston bought back plenty of memories and stories, including from the Lakers’ 2008 loss to the Celtics in the NBA Finals, which he called “the most important piece” of the second half of his career.
What made that series so important was the victory that it led into, as the Lakers defeated Boston in seven games two years later to win the 2010 championship.
“The loss led to the win,” he said before the game. “I say that in the most beautiful way possible. I don’t remember the loss as like a painful experience. I remember it as a beautiful moment because it helped me find the best version of myself and my teammates.”
He has also used that loss on Boston’s famed parquet floor as motivation within his family.
When his daughter cried after striking out in her softball semifinal game, he turned time back to 2008.
“I showed her the video of us losing to the Celtics and me walking off the court crying,” Bryant said. “I said, ‘Listen, it’s fine. You’ve just gotta bounce back. That’s the kind of profound impact this building has had on me.”
Good Night Boston! #KB20
A photo posted by Los Angeles Lakers (@lakers) on Dec 30, 2015 at 7:17pm PST
Notes Bryant flew out his wife and two daughters for the game. … Brandon Bass tallied nine points and six rebounds in his return to the city he played his last four seasons in. … Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points with seven assists, while Turner handed out eight dimes. … The Lakers only had 10 turnovers against a Boston team that forces a league-high 17.5 per game. … A crowd of 18,624 packed TD Garden for Bryant’s last game in the building.
Kobe Bryant gets one last win in Boston. #NBAVote https://t.co/Ki0aOuzubF
