Without Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers lose 95-90 to Phoenix & improve NBA lottery odds

The noise level reached fever pitch, and the reasons had everything to do with Kobe Bryant.

This did not involve Bryant leading the Lakers to a win, making a shot or even playing. The fanfare centered on Bryant strolling to the Lakers’ bench before watching a mess unfold in the form of a 95-90 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday at Staples Center.

That partly explains the sudden excitement among the 18,997 at Staples Center since the game offered little to cheer until the Lakers cut a 19-point deficit in the final moments. But Lakers forward Ryan Kelly missed two foul shots and was called for basket interference on the next possession.

Before that, most of the attention centered on Bryant, who missed his sixth game in the previous 10 contests because of his sore right shoulder.

Unlike Bryant’s other absences, the Lakers did not expect this.

“I don’t know what changed,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “It was good this moing. This afteoon, it didn’t feel good.”

The Lakers (14-55) didn’t look good, either. They nearly set a franchise record for fewest points in a game, something the 2002-03 team still holds with a 70-point effort in Cleveland on Nov. 5, 2002. The Lakers also set a season-low with fewest points scored in the second quarter (10 points on 4-of-24 shooting).

That might bring fanfare during the NBA draft lottery in New York City on May 17. The Lakers have a five-game cushion over the Phoenix Suns (19-50) for the NBA’s second-worst record, which gives the Lakers a 55.8 percent chance of keeping their top-3 protected pick and 19.9 percent odds at finishing No. 1. But Scott scoffed at such talk.

“If you intentionally go out there and try to lose games, that type of karma is going to come back on you,” Scott said. “I’m going to coach to try to win these games and I hope our players come out and try to win.”

They may have tried. But the Lakers still went 31-of-86 from the field, including poor shooting nights from D’Angelo Russell (2-of-10), Jordan Clarkson (2-of-13) and Julius Randle (1-of-9), none of whom played in the fourth quarter.

Lakers reserve guard Lou Williams was the lone player both to score in double digits (30) and shoot above 50 percent (10-of-17).

But does Scott find it off-putting that the NBA awards teams with better chances to land a top pick because of poor records?

“I could be critical about it with certain parts of it,” Scott said. “But obviously last year it worked out pretty good for us.”

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Then, the Lakers landed the No. 2 pick despite finishing with the league’s fourth-worst record. Hence, Scott sounded open toward becoming the team’s draft representative again along with Lakers spokesman John Black.

“Just give me great talent and chemistry, we’ll win,” Scott said. “That’s what John and I did last year.”

The Lakers could not say the same thing about their own roster against Phoenix. So, plenty of fans seemed more interested in Bryant, who has consistently retued only for road games and home contests against marquee players or opponents.

But Scott offered Bryant some sympathy, arguing, “When he tells me he can’t go, I know he’s hurting.”

“He has to think about himself more than anything and his future after basketball,” Scott said. “He doesn’t want to do damage to his shoulder so much that in 5-10 years from now he has to go get surgery again.”