Pelicans beat Lakers, Kobe Bryant 110-102
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Alexis Ajinca and the Pelicans dominated Los Angeles 110-102 Friday night in retiring Lakers star Kobe Bryant's final game in New Orleans.
Bryant had 14 points, had four assists and three rebounds, delighting fans who cheered his every touch of the ball. The Lakers have games in Houston and Oklahoma City before Bryant's grand finale at home Wednesday against Utah.
With a little more than eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, fans began chanting, "We Want Kobe!" Los Angeles coach Byron Scott obliged, putting the retiring star in with 7:20 to play. Bryant missed both shots he took in the three minutes he played in the final quarter, however.
"It has been amazing," Bryant said, adding Friday night was the first time he had ever re-entered a game due to chants from fans. "I seriously couldn't ask for anything else, or anything more. It's unbelievable to have these reactions."
Ajinca helped the Pelicans break open a game in which they were trailing late in the second quarter, setting career highs with 28 points and 15 rebounds. New Orleans shot 53 percent.
New Orleans trailed by three points with 3:29 to go in the first half. But the Pelicans closed with a 15-1 run, led by 11 points at halftime and never looked back.
The largely pro-Bryant and Lakers crowd watched as New Orleans outrebounded Los Angeles by nine.
Toney Douglas added 20 points for New Orleans, which also got 19 from Dante Cunningham and 15 from Luke Babbitt.
D'Angelo Russell led the Lakers with 32 points while Jordan Clarkson added 26.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Los Angeles turned the ball over 13 times, allowing 15 points on the giveaways. ... Bryant scored 14 of the Lakers' 27 first-quarter points
Pelicans: Tim Frazier had 12 assists, leading the team despite playing the game in a reserve guard role. ... Jordan Hamilton scored 12 points.
GENTRY REFLECTS ON BRYANT'S TIME IN NBA
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry spent eight years coaching in the same division as Kobe Bryant. Prior to Friday's final matchup against the retiring star, Gentry reflected on what his young team should get out of playing against Bryant one final time. "You're playing against one of the all-time great players to ever put on basketball shoes and walk on the court," Gentry said.
Gentry said he used to see him in California during the offseason already preparing for the next one. "You see him working out in the summer, in July when everybody else is probably vacationing, but that's what drives him," Gentry said. "He truly wanted to be the best player that ever put on the uniform and to me, he did everything that he possibly could to get there."
UP NEXT:
Lakers: At Houston on Sunday
Pelicans: Host Phoenix on Saturday