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Kobe Bryant picked a good Los Angeles Lakers game for his first visit to Staples Center in a while. Making a rare post-retirement appearance at the arena in which he played the vast majority of his NBA career, Bryant was on hand to watch the Lakers dominate the Atlanta Hawks 122-101 and have some fun with the team in the process. Sitting courtside, Bryant had a quick moment with LeBron James in the first quarter, which immediately preceded a 3-pointer from the superstar to put the Lakers up 24-5. James would go on to post 33 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds and no turnovers, finishing +30 in a game where no other player cracked the 20s. Quite possibly the most eyebrow-raising interaction was an amicable exchange with Dwight Howard who has like a new man in his second stint with the Lakers. You might remember some friction between Bryant and Howard during and after the first stint. For now, it looks like the hatchet has been buried. “I didn’t even know who it was,” Howard ...

#LeBron #LeBronJames #Lakers #NBA #AnthonyDavis James’s first season in Los Angeles was full of defensive lowlights. But with Anthony Davis anchoring the paint, the Lakers have found an identity on the other side of the ball. The Lakers trailed by 17 points at halftime in Chicago on Tuesday, and by 13 points after the third quarter. A loss wouldn’t have been a disaster—no defeat this early in the season is—and the Lakers could have been forgiven for a letdown at the end of a road trip, having already won five games in a row. But these Lakers weren’t content to capitulate. After pouring in 93 points over the first three quarters, the Bulls managed just four in the first eight minutes of the fourth, as L.A. embarked on a 29-4 run to steal a 118-112 road win. What sparked the comeback? A surprising scoring surge with Anthony Davis and LeBron James on the bench—and a defensive improvement that, based on the first two weeks of the season, isn’t much of a surprise at all. “As t...

LeBron James overtook Michael Jordan to move fourth on the NBA's all-time points scorer list in the LA Lakers' 115-99 defeat by the Denver Nuggets. James, 34, who netted 31 points against the Nuggets, has scored 32,311 points, surpassing Jordan's tally of 32,292. He achieved the feat in 1,190 games, compared to Jordan's 1,072. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant have scored more points than James, who began his NBA career with Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. The Ohio-born player joined Miami Heat in 2010, returning to the Cavs four years later before switching to the Lakers last July in a four-year deal worth $154m (£116m). James appeared to send a message to Jordan with "thank you MJ" written on his shoe. Last month James became the first player to move on to  the NBA's top 10 all-time scoring and assists lists. He has won three NBA titles - twice with Heat in 2012 and 2013, along with another with the Cavs in 2016, appeare...

#LeBron #LeBronJames #LosAngelesLakers #LakersNation,  After signing LeBron James over the summer, it seemed like there was good reason the Los Angeles Lakers were heavy favorites in Las Vegas to make the playoffs. But after a 118-109 loss to the lowly Phoenix Suns on Saturday night, the view in Vegas is worse than ever. The Lakers now have plus-600 odds (a $100 wager would win $600) to make the postseason at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, by far their worst odds all season. They are a staggering minus-900 favorite to miss the postseason. Los Angeles was plus-240 to make the playoffs before Saturday's game and had minus-110 odds at the All-Star break. The SuperBook opened odds on the Lakers making the playoffs before the season with the yes heavily favored at minus-450 (no at plus-350). Although 59 percent of bettors thought James' Lakers would miss the playoffs, more than 83 percent of the money was on yes. This was heavily influenced by one bettor who wagered $5...