LOS ANGELES: Kobe Bryant has lifted the Los Angeles Lakers onto his shoulders countless times over the past two decades, and he rarely flinches under the weight.<\/p>\n
Even during a demoralizing losing streak in his farewell season, the 37-year-old superstar summoned his skills to carry the team one more time.<\/p>\n
Bryant hit seven 3-pointers while scoring a season-high 38 points, and the Lakers snapped their 10-game skid with a 119-115 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
With Bryant scoring 14 of their 18 points in the final 5:02, the Lakers avoided the longest losing streak in the 16-time champion franchise’s history despite blowing a 16-point lead in the second half. Los Angeles had lost 10 straight for the first time since 1994, and Bryant’s vintage performance made sure the record stayed shared.<\/p>\n
Bryant hit repeatedly from the perimeter in the Lakers’ first win since Jan. 12, evoking memories of the best years for the third-leading scorer in NBA history.
After Minnesota took the lead in the waning minutes, Bryant put the Lakers back ahead with dramatic, back-to-back 3s. He also drained a 19-footer with 26 seconds left to put them up 113-110 before making six free throws in the last 16.7 seconds.<\/p>\n
Andrew Wiggins scored 30 points and led an impressive second-half surge by the Timberwolves, who have lost five straight and 16 of 18. Gorgui Dieng scored 19 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and nine rebounds.<\/p>\n
Wiggins committed a turnover with 17 seconds left after Bryant’s big jumper, and Bryant salted away the game at the line amid countless chants of his name from nostalgic fans.<\/p>\n
Lou Williams scored 20 points and rookie D’Angelo Russell had 18 for the Lakers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOS ANGELES: Kobe Bryant has lifted the Los Angeles Lakers onto his shoulders countless times over the past two decades, and he rarely flinches under the weight.<\/p>\n
Even during a demoralizing losing streak in his farewell season, the 37-year-old superstar summoned his skills to carry the team one more time.<\/p>\n
Bryant hit seven 3-pointers while scoring a season-high 38 points, and the Lakers snapped their 10-game skid with a 119-115 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[14381,1254,14380,1596,14382],"class_list":["post-25517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-basketball-news","tag-andrew-wiggins","tag-kobe-bryant","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-nba","tag-nba-news"],"yoast_head":"\n