Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski caught up with the superstar shooting guard after the contest—L.A.’s fourth loss in five games.
Bryant stated that the foot “inflamed” on him, but that “it’s been ongoing with me for a while now.”
While it was clear that the Black Mamba was somewhat limited by this ankle issue during the matchup, he still managed to score a team-high 30 points in the 113-103 defeat.
Bryant was forced to rely on the charity stripe to get his numbers—hitting on 18 of 20 free throws—as he was only 6-of-17 from the field and 0-of-3 from beyond the arc. It further proved the Mamba’s resilience, as he was able to improbably keep the Lakers in it even though his jumper was ineffective.
Unfortunately, Kobe’s efforts were for naught as his teammates struggled and starting PG Steve Nash was forced to the sidelines with a right hip spasm in the middle of the third quarter.
As a result, the Lakers dropped to 37-36 on the season and are hanging on to the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoff race by a thread. A pivotal road contest against the Sacramento Kings is looming on Saturday in what is a must-win game for L.A. with just nine games remaining.
Both Nash and Bryant are listed as questionable on the injury report, but history shows that the star SG will do everything in his power to suit up and play in order to give this organization its best chance of making the postseason.
Approximately two weeks ago, the Mamba severely sprained his ankle against the Atlanta Hawks after coming down awkwardly on Dahntay Jones' foot following a failed game-winni...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
