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Lakers down 76ers 93-81
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By Broderick Turner
December 18, 2010
Philadelphia, PA — After it was over, after Lamar Odom had put on his best offensive show of the season, after the Lakers had put on a show in the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers, and after Eagles quarterback Michael Vick had whipped the fans inside the Wells Fargo Center into a frenzy with his arrival at the game during the third quarter Friday night, Kobe Bryant eased down the hallway to have his right pinkie X-rayed.
The X-rays revealed nothing more serious than a sprain, an injury Bryant played with after it occurred in the first quarter. He scored nine points, a season low.
But Bryant's scoring wasn't needed on this night — not with Odom scoring a season-high 28 points on 11-for-18 shooting, and not with Odom, Matt Barnes and Steve Blake dominating the fourth quarter during the Lakers' 93-81 victory.
Bryant's output was his lowest since he scored five points against Charlotte on Feb. 3.
"It was tough to hold the basketball, so it really affected it," said Bryant, who was three for 11 from the field. "But Lamar was going well. They weren't double teaming Pau [Gasol]. There was no sense in me trying to go through it. Tonight, I'd much rather use Lamar and just ride that wave."
Gasol was also a factor with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Barnes had 15 points, doing his part by scoring nine in the fourth in helping the Lakers earn their fourth straight victory.
Bryant was not aggressive after he injured his finger.
"It was numb for about 20 minutes," said Bryant, who claimed, with a smile, that he was injured because Gasol "threw a bad pass" to him.
Bryant also had problems with the right hand last season. He played most of the season with an at-times painful avulsion fracture in the index finger on his right hand. He elected not to have surgery on it last summer.
Friday night, he chose to watch Odom, Barnes and Blake take care of things in the fourth.
They accounted for the Lakers' first 25 points of the quarter, helping them open an 83-68 lead.
"Matt, Steve hit a couple of threes," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said, "and Lamar came back in and played really well."
The Lakers couldn't get it together in the first three quarters and trailed, 62-58. But they outscored the 76ers, 35-19, in the fourth.
Something clicked for the Lakers.
"I think it was when they played the Eagles' fight song," Jackson said, smiling. "I think that's the thing that did it."
With about two minutes left in the third quarter, Vick strolled in to a standing ovation and loud cheers.
It was a bizarre scene because the game was in progress as the fans stood and the Eagles' fight song was played.
"If you didn't notice that, then you are just completely like . . ." said Bryant, who went to high school outside Philadelphia. "This whole place went bananas. I was one of them. . . . I love my Eagles. I was excited just like everybody else."
• NBA News Archive Index:
2010, 2009
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