With the Lakers leading by as many as 36 points in Sunday night’s win over the Detroit Pistons, it seemed as though the starters (who are getting up there in basketball years) might get some much needed rest for their legs. To no surprise, after the Lakers bench allowed the Pistons to go on an 8-0 run in two minutes, head coach Mike Brown got a little nervous.
“Detroit went on a little run…what we talked about on the bench was if they get inside the 20, we’re going to go back to our guys.”
With 8:55 left in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers still leading by 24 points (88-64), Brown substituted Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard back into the game. Since the starters have been plagued with injuries the past several weeks, Brown was asked about his decision and whether or not he would have done the same same thing had the Lakers been up 3-0 in the win column. The coach’s response was pretty simple.
“If we were 3-0, I’d let that group stay, but we were 0-3 and we needed a win, so I was going to do anything to get the win…it’s a decision based on us needing to get a win.”
All starters played over 30 minutes in the Lakers 108-79 win against the Detroit Pistons Sunday night. Friday night, after the Lakers loss to the Clippers, Kobe said he felt his foot was “about to fall off.”
Kobe sat out of Monday’s practice, which only consisted of a film session and a walk through, and is not evidence that Bryant’s foot injury has worsened. Bryant still managed eight assists and 15 points in their win over Detroit. Lakers will go on the road Wednesday to face the Utah Jazz. Hopefully, that will be enough time to allow Kobe the rest he needs.
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Practice Footage: Check out Mike Brown explaining his thought process for putting Kobe Bryant in at the end of the Detroit Pistons game
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