SAN ANTONIO (AP) ― While Kobe Bryant again sat out, Andrew Bynum cleaned up.
Pulling down the first 30-rebound game in the NBA in more than two years, Bynum made Bryant’s third missed game in a row an afterthought by the time the Los Angeles Lakers finished off the San Antonio Spurs 98-84 on Wednesday night.
The 7-footer became the first player with 30 rebounds in a game since Minnesota’s Kevin Love corralled 31 against the New York Knicks in 2010. Bynum also had 16 points while joining Love as the only two players in the last 12 years to hit the 30-rebound mark.
“It’s great to have 30 boards, but my shots not working and I’m little upset about that,” said Bynum, who was 7 of 20 from the field. “For me, I’ll remember shooting poorly.”
That’s not what anyone else will recall.
Metta World Peace scored a second-high 26 points, and Pau Gasol added 21 points and 11 rebounds. The Lakers improved to 2-1 without Bryant, who is still letting his sore left shin heal. Lakers coach Mike Brown said there is still no timetable for when the NBA’s leading scorer might return, but added that Bryant isn’t nagging him to play.
Brown said Bryant, who is averaging 28.1 points, wants to be cautious and not exacerbate the injury that halted his streak of consecutive starts at 138 last week. And two nights after barely squeaking past lowly New Orleans, the Lakers played far livelier this time without their superstar.
Indiana 104, Cleveland 98
Philadelphia 93, Toronto 75
Boston 88, Atlanta 86
New Orleans 105, Sacramento 96
Utah 103, Houston 91
New York 111, Milwaukee 107
LA Clippers 100, Oklahoma City 98
Memphis 104, Phoenix 93
Denver 113, Minnesota 107
Portland 118, Golden State 110
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
