The Los Angeles Lakers managed a terribly important victory in a fun one Sunday night over the Golden State Warriors, the final score 120-112. They did so with Andrew Bynum who left the game with an ankle injury after only playing ten minutes. Bynum will learn more about his ankle tomorrow, but told reporters he will "definitely" play on Tuesday against the New Jersey Nets.
With Andrew Bynum not even managing points before he left the game, it was up to Kobe Bryant to carry the team and he proved up to the task tonight scoring 40 points. It was an accurate shooting night for Bryant, going 16-28 and 3-3 from behind the arc; only needing five points from the charity stripe to reach the 40 mark.
It wouldn't have been enough unless Pau Gasol stepped up underneath the basket as well, and luckily Pau was hot tonight as well. 11-17 shooting with 11 rebounds. He and Bryant had to play 40 and 37 minutes respectively, with Ramon Sessions and Meta World Peace also stepping up to play 30+ minutes. Sessions had 9 assists and 23 points as he continues to prove a great midseason acquisition.
David Lee led the Warriors with 27 points, and the Warriors had a number of double digit scorers. They managed to keep it close, only down by five points with three minutes left in the game, but didn't have enough to counter the monster games Bryant, Gasol, and Sessions all turned in.
For more on the Los Angeles Laker season, check out Silver Screen and Roll.