scored 44 points, passing Jerry West as the Los Angeles Lakers' career
scorer, but it wasn't enough as the Memphis Grizzlies got 22 points and
17 rebounds from Zach Randolph to defeat the Lakers 95-93 on Monday
night.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 25 points, and his 3-pointer with 29.5 seconds left helped Memphis end its two-game losing streak.
Ron Artest's 3-point attempt from the
right side bounced high off the rim as the horn sounded, snapping the
Lakers' four-game winning streak.
Bryant passed West's mark on a
breakaway dunk in the third quarter. Bryant made 16 of 28 shots,
including 4 of 7 outside the arc. Artest added 18 points, while Pau
Gasol had 10 points.
Lester Hudson had 13 points for Memphis, and Marc Gasol finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds for Memphis.
While Bryant got the franchise record
for scoring, the loss prevented Lakers coach Phil Jackson from passing
Pat Riley as the winningest coach in regular-season games for Los
Angeles. The two are tied at 533.
The game was tied at 88 when Memphis
ran the shot clock to near the end before Randolph made a 22-footer for
a 90-88 lead with 1:08 left. His two free throws extended the lead to
92-88. Bryant scored on a drive before Gay's 3-pointer with 29.5
seconds left gave Memphis a 95-90 lead, and the Grizzlies held on.
Memphis got an unexpected offensive
boost from Hudson, the rookie shooting guard who was picked up Jan. 8
off waivers from the Celtics.
Hudson had 11 points — his career
high — in the second quarter as Memphis extended the lead to 11 before
carrying a 52-50 lead into the half. The Lakers outscored Memphis
11-2 to close the gap going into halftime.
Memphis extended the lead to 11
again at the start of the third quarter as the Lakers missed eight of
their first nine shots. Meanwhile, Randolph and Marc Gasol were effective
inside.
But the Lakers narrowed the deficit
again. Bryant's dunk to pass West's mark in the third quarter was part
of a stretch where Los Angeles closed the quarter on an 18-6 run.
Notes
Memphis reserve Sam Young,
the Grizzlies' leading scorer off the bench with a 7.5-point average,
was inactive because of an allergic reaction. … The Lakers wrapped up an
eight-game road trip Monday night with a record of 5-3. … After the
pregame introductions, Pau Gasol, who started his career in Memphis,
bumped fists all the way down press row to the Grizzlies bench. … The
teams were tied at 24 at the end of the first because of a mental lapse
by Gay, who thought the game clock was running out and fired up a
47-footer with about 5 seconds left. The errant shot bounced hard off
the backboard, and the Lakers moved the ball to Bryant, who connected
on a 3-pointer from the corner as time expired.