Even though Bryant ended up scoring less than half of his 28.9 points per game average, good for third best in the league, Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said it shouldn't be looked at like a "sacrifice" by the All-Star guard. "If you win, is it really a sacrifice or is it, 'Yeah, you played the right way?' " D'Antoni said after practice Saturday. "I don't know if it was a sacrifice, is all, but (Bryant) set the tone. There's no doubt about it. He played like Oscar Robertson played back in the day -- 14 assists, nine rebounds, and he got easy shots all over the place. Some nights it's 14 points, some nights it's 30 points, but he'll read the defense." ESPN.com
Howard said Bryant's adjustment on offense helped not just him, but the entire team. "We have to play for each other to win," Howard said. "All of us have to sacrifice part of who we are, part of who we've been, especially on the offensive end for the team. Still bring the same kind of energy, but we have to figure out a way to all put it together. I'm sure everybody on this team wants to be the guy to score, make plays and all that stuff, but we have to figure out ways to do it together. If you get everybody else involved early and throughout the game, it just makes it tough for teams to guard. "(Bryant) did a great job of that (Friday) night. When he plays that way, it makes it tough for teams because he's passing. He's throwing lobs. He's picking the defense apart. Now he can get the chance to go one-on-one, where he's dangerous." ESPN.com
Full-body ice baths to Bryant have become a normal habit for him as well, a part of his everyday lifestyle. He even goes so far to call it "The Tub of Youth." The benefit of icing can reduce pain, muscle spasm in the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other tissues in the body, which is effective for reducing inflammation. Minimizing the inflammatory response is a key component to avoiding injuries, reducing muscle soreness and speeding up recovery. "It's tough, but it's something you have to do," Bryant said. "When you're playing in the league for so long, you have to find ways to recover, you have to find ways to be committed to that and do that on a consistent basis." NBA.com
Q: Do you think this team is a legitimate championship contender? Iman Shumpert: Definitely, I think so. I think it’s a whole mental thing, us getting out of the first round. I think once we get out of the first round we’ll be fine. It’s not only us, it’s the city, and I think this year, adding a Jason Kidd, already having a Tyson Chandler, a Rasheed Wallace — these guys all have rings. ... Rasheed Wallace is on my ear during a game telling me on the road, “Look, we only have to be within six points with six minutes to go.” When I see six minutes in the fourth quarter, and we’re down six, in my head, I’m thinking, “Man, we need to hurry up and get a steal. I need to hurry up and start getting things moving. I’m not trying to make this a free throw match.” And they’re in no sort of panic at all. Jason Kidd is trying to almost grow me up as fast as he can with just learning time, score, situation. He’s trying to say like, “Look, it’s gonna be a time where you’re gonna have to make these type of decisions — let me tell you what I know about this, this, this ... how the ref’s [are] calling it, what we need to do. Every timeout, he’s right here. New York Post
Much as they did in Friday's victory over Milwaukee, newcomers Speights, Shaun Livingston and Wayne Ellington brought the Cavs back, and a tip-in by Thompson gave the Cavs an 80-79 lead with 8:47 left, their first lead since the first quarter. Irving took it from there, with 12 points in the final period. It was his first victory over Toronto in four tries. (He was injured for the victory in Toronto on April 6 last season.) "Hell, yeah, I wanted to get a win," Irving said. "It's personal for me. I've been in the NBA a year and a half and haven't gotten a win against Toronto. To get a game winner here and beat them on their home court feels good." Asked what was going through his head when the ball went through, Irving said, "'Let's get out of Toronto, let's go home, fellas.' That's all I was thinking." Cleveland Plain Dealer
Q: What’s one anecdote about coach Mike Woodson that makes him unique? Iman Shumpert: The first day he became head coach, at halftime of the game — Melo’s going off. Melo’s got like 16 or 18 at half. We’re blowing the Trail Blazers out, we’re already up by 15, and we’re all hyped up. We’re like in the locker room laughing, everybody’s like talking, communicating like, “Man, we need to do this, ah you missed a layup on this though, we gotta clean this up, we gotta do this,” so we’re all talking. And Woody comes in there, he looks like he’s [ticked]. And so we all like sorta tighten up. He goes straight up to Melo: “I don’t give a damn how many points you got. You have no rebounds right now. You can’t play for me with no rebounds.” I think Melo finished with like seven, eight rebounds after that. But it’s like the fact that he walked in, and just walked straight up to Melo’s face and did that, I think it established in the room for the rest of the year how serious he was about he doesn’t care how much we’re winning by if we’re not doing the things we’re supposed to do. New York Post
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