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Clippers beat Lakers in Kobe Bryant's last Christmas game

Xinhua, December 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Chris Paul scored 23 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 94-84 victory over the Lakers on Friday night in Kobe Bryant's final Christmas game.

   Staples Center roared when the 37-year-old Bryant took the mic before the game and thanked his fans. Bryant, who has a record 395 points on Christmas Day, played 26 minutes in his NBA-record 16th Christmas Day game and scored 12 points for the Lakers.

   "He (Kobe) has been good the last 10 games or so......I'm pretty sure he's happy with how he's playing," Lakers head coach Byron Scott told media, "he's playing at a different level right now than he was about a month ago". 

   The Clippers took an 85-57 lead into the fourth, and both coaches rested all of their starters until the Lakers started to make a move.

   "I thought we played okay," the Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said, "I thought we could've been so much better, even with the lead in the first half."

   The Lakers opened the fourth quarter on a 25-4 run to pull within seven points of the Clippers. The Staples Center crowd went wild, but then the Clippers pulled away with a 3-pointer by Wesley Johnson and a 16-footer by Paul and the Lakers could not complete the comeback.

   Rookie D'Angelo Russell had a team-high 16 points off the bench for the Lakers. "We know that team is a playoff contender so we should just use that as confidence knowing that we can compete with teams like that," he said after the game, "but at this level, every team is good no matter what people on the outside say."

   J.J. Redick had 14 points and DeAndre Jordan had nine points and 14 rebounds for the Clippers. They have won 12 of their last 13 meetings with the Lakers.

   Bryant announced on Nov. 29 that he will retire after this season, his 20th in the NBA. His best game on Dec. 25 was in 2004, when he had 42 points in a 104-102 overtime loss to Miami at Staples Center.  Endi