The Lakers will not get 20 wins, and Kobe is down to his last two games in the NBA. Peejay Ruiz, a die-hard Lakers and Kobe fan based in Australia, is not happy about this.
‘Bittersweet’: Pinoy fan faces Kobe’s last days in the NBA
Peripheral Vision: Chot and Cheetas
With social media’s reach as expansive as Kevin Durant’s wingspan, it’s almost impossible to keep up with all the fascinating posts online. It can be quite exhausting. Like playing through five overtimes. Peripheral Vision takes a look around the web to select some of the more interesting items so you don’t have to. No complex scouting process here though. Just a lazy and quick survey of the vast digital hoops community.
Our deep gratitude to you too, MVP
While a lot of frustrated Pinoys are calling for the head of Gilas coach Chot Reyes, Gilas godfather and overall good guy, Manny V. Pangilinan came to his aid. A day after Gilas bowed out of contention in the Asian Games, MVP posted a series of tweets, defending Reyes and the squad.
Christmas Day
After more than a 3-month hiatus, BuhayBasket is back not with a vengeance, but with fresher legs and the eye on the proverbial ball. Just like Steve Nash. Minus the Gatsby haircut, of course.
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Photo: Robyn Beck / Getty Images
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Speaking of Nash, who played in his second straight game in nearly two months, his side part orchestrated another Laker victory at the expense of the New York Knicks.
Nash dished out 11 times in another entertaining Christmas Day match-up (thanks NBA marketing execs!), which featured two MVPs-in-the-running in an epic scoring battle.
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Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein / Getty Images
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Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony both dropped 34 points, but it was the Black Mamba emerging victorious, thanks to Dwight’s 14 and 12; Pau’s 13 and 8; and Metta’s defense.
Metta World Peace clamped down on Melo in the fourth—limiting him to “only” 7 points in the quarter—before fouling out with 1:58 left to play. He also chipped in 20 points.
Even Nash was impressed.
”This is what he’s been doing all year. He gets his hands on a lot of balls, pounds on the other team’s best guy. You can’t win without that type of effort,” he said of World Peace.
Without Metta, the gargantuan task of guarding Melo in the clutch fell on Kobe. Challenged accepted.
The Lakeshow escaped with a 100-94 win and a few choice words from Kobe to Carmelo.
“If you can’t trash talk with your friends, what type of relationship is that?” Kobe told reporters after the game.
The win was the Lakers’ fifth straight, and just like that, the Lakers is a .500 team once again.
In other news, the Heat beat OKC (again), Clips are on a 14-game winning streak, KG and Crash don’t like each other, the Rose-less Bulls suck, and Mike Brown is still jobless.
Just another Christmas Day in the NBA.