Page 27 - Florida Sentinel 12-4-15 Edition

Sports
Kobe Bryant Gets The Cheers, But 76ers Get Their First Win Against Lakers
The latest big surprise of the Lakers' season, other than their calamitous record and Kobe Bryant's retirement announcement, came in the form of pregame introductions against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The notoriously fickle and ardently anti-Kobe fans stood and made themselves heard Tuesday night.
They cheered. Loudly.
It was as unexpected as it gets, the hometown crowd showing appreciation after typically booing Bryant when- ever the Lakers visited the 76ers.
The cheers near the end of the game were not for Bryant in his final appearance here. They went to the 76ers, who ended a 28-game losing streak and extended the Lakers' mis- ery with a 103-91 victory.
The Bryant-delights-cranky hometown tale ended in the first quarter. He made three of his first four shots — all three- point attempts — but made seven of 26 overall by the time it was over, four of 17 behind the arc, as the 76ers ended their 0-18 drought to start the season.
KOBE BRYANT
"There's going to be games like that where you're just going to live and die with it," Lakers Coach Byron Scott said. "You're just hoping that you don't die too much."
Bryant's farewell tour re- ceived a very lively kick-start, two days after he said he would retire in April.
The 76ers gave him a framed jersey from Lower Merion High, presented by Bryant's high school coach, Gregg Downer, and 76ers legend Julius Erving. Bryant pledged not to cry on the court this season, but he was choked up by the pregame adulation.
"That got me," he said. "I wasn't expecting that ovation."
Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry Battles Dad In Game Of HORSE
LeBron James Sad Kobe Bryant Retiring, Wishes They'd Met In Finals
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- LeBron James said knowing this will be Kobe Bryant's last season is "truly sad for me" and that he regrets that the pair never faced off in the NBA Finals.
"I didn't hold up my end of the bargain in 2009 for the fans, for us, to meet in the Fi- nals," James said Tuesday, looking back on the 2008-09 season when his Cleveland Cavaliers led the league with a 66-16 record and Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers were right behind him at 65-17. "I know the world wanted to see it. I wanted it, we wanted it. He held up his end and I didn't hold up my end, and I hate that. I hate that that didn't happen."
James and the Cavs lost to the Orlando Magic in the East- ern Conference finals 4-2, with the Lakers going on to beat the Magic in the championship round 4-1. With Bryant and the Pau Gasol-led Lakers hit- ting their stride at the same time James was on the top team in the East with Cleve- land and later the Miami Heat,
LeBron James says he has always looked up to Kobe Bryant.
a Finals matchup seemed in- evitable to observers. How- ever, James said he never assumed it would occur.
"Obviously there was so much made about it, from commercials to media talk, to people just talking about the Lakers versus the Cavs, Kobe versus LeBron, Kobe versus LeBron, Kobe versus Le- Bron, but I couldn't do that to my teammates to kind of as- sume," James said. "That's not my job. I've seen the stat that since '07 either he has or I've been in the Finals, but we've never matched up.
STEPHEN CURRY
The MVP of last year's NBA season Stephen Curry is a great shooter--who possibly in- herited skill from his father, former NBA player Dell Curry.
To settle who is the better of the two, they dueled in the only way appropriate--a game of HORSE.
At first, Steph was shaky, however he eventually domi- nated his dad, showing some flair during the game.
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