Kobe Bryant, who has battled with fatigue issues this season, will not play on the second game of a back-to-back for the first time this year. Byron Scott announced that the Lakers would be without Bryant for the team’s game in Portland tomorrow against the Trailblazers.
Byron Scott told Kobe not to travel to Portland at all - rest
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) January 5, 2015
Bryant, as you recall, sat out for a week earlier this season due to fatigue issues. Since, his minutes have been monitored very closely and Bryant has taken a different approach to games. Always known as a high-volume scorer, Bryant has begun to evolve into a play-maker, picking his spots to shoot instead of hoisting 20+ a night. The result has been great for Bryant, who is an efficient averaging 16.0 points, 9.3 assists, and 8.7 rebounds.
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However, in order to avoid another situation of Bryant needing a week off, Scott has elected to rest him on the second night of a back-to-back, a strategy that team’s like the Spurs use with their aging veterans and one that Lakers fans had hoped Scott would employ at the beginning of this season. Despite the delay in implementing this strategy, as the old saying goes, it’s better late than never.
The Lakers do have a congested schedule in the coming two weeks with eight games over the next 13 days with eight games, although just one more back-to-back. However, only two of the games take place outside of Los Angeles with tomorrow’s game against Portland and the final game in the stretch in Utah, although there is a “road” game scheduled against the Clippers.
Do you like Bryant sitting out of this back-to-back? Let us know what you think down below!
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