David Richard-US Presswire
Kobe Bryant continued to show his offensive powers in Tuesdays win against Milwaukee Bucks, but admits the team’s defense is due credit.
Kobe is in his 17th NBA season and is currently the league’s leading scorer, and once again displayed his wealth of talents by knocking down 31 points; that said, he credits the win – and the surge in his defense – for the ice baths he has been taking.
“It’s the ice baths I take,” Bryant said with a laugh, something rare around these parts, with the Lakers at just 17-21 on the season.
“I was trying to disrupt Brendan Jennings as much as possible. There’s a great deal of preparation involved in figuring out what he likes and where he likes to do it. Then it’s a matter of stopping it as much as possible.”
The Lakers put up defensive clamps on the Bucks, restricting them to just 88 points in the win at the Staples Center. The squad’s defensive effort has certainly been upped in helping the team to two consecutive victories after coming off of six straight defeats.
After holding the Cleveland Cavaliers to just 41% shooting, they held the Bucks to 35.8% shooting (34-95).
Mike D’Antoni is finally pleased what he is seeing and Kobe is not just assisting the team with his shooting.
“He sets the tone defensively,” D’Antoni said.
“When you have a guy hawking the ball like that, disrupting your offense, the energy he brings on the offensive end, it affects the offense. It’s always imperative that he does that.”
With the win, the Lakers helped D’Antoni to become the 42nd coach in the NBA to record at least 400 victories.
