Jeremy Lin delivered one of his best performances in purple-and-good uniform, only to be ruined by a late-game blunder that drew the ire of star Kobe Bryant in the Los Angeles Lakers' 109-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday at Staples Center.
Coming off a 4-point effort against the Denver Nuggets, Lin came alive offensively as he shot 9-for-15 from the field for 20 points with 5 assists and 3 steals in 28 minutes of action against the Grizzlies.
The 26-year old playmaker was instrumental in the Lakers' success in the early-going, as he and other bench players provided much-needed offensive firepower.
Lin knocked down his first five shots, the last was a three-point shot to give the Lakers the biggest lead of the night, 34-22, with 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
The Lakers took a five point lead, 52-47, at the half, but the Grizzlies began to make their moves in the third quarter, in which they outscored the home team 33-25.
The Grizzlies tried to create enough breathing room down the stretch; however, the Lakers just refused to bow down. Trailing 106-102 with 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Bryant nailed a 26-foot three-point jumper over the outstretched arms of Quincy Pondexter to get the Lakers within one point with 24 seconds left in the quarter.
At this point, the Lakers needed to foul someone in order to have another ball possession. Bryant was very much aware of it, screaming his teammates to foul right away after hitting that big shot. Lin, who was guarding the ball-handler Mike Conley, was unfortunately unaware of Bryant's call as he looked for instructions from the Lakers' bench. Bryant furiously took matters in his own hand, rushing from the baseline all the way to mid-court to foul Conley.
The Grizz guard split his two free-throws to give the Lakers another chance to extend the game. Bryant tried to go for the equalizer, but his three-point heave didn't connect, allowing the Grizzlies to escape and move closer to sweeping their season-series after beating the Lakers in the first three games.
Bryant, who finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in 33 minutes of action, still believed his backcourt partner played well in the game despite the big miscue that could have given the Lakers more time to execute a game-winning play.
"He played well," Bryant said of Lin via ESPN. "It's a fine balance for him, in terms of when to shoot it and when to set everybody up, but he'll work through it."
Despite putting up strong numbers, Lin ended up as the fall-out guy for another painful lost to the Lakers, who now dropped to 10-23 in the season.
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