Bryant's barrage delivers Wizards' 11th straight loss

LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant caught the ball in the low block, backed down Mike Miller, faked left, then spun right to hit a turnaround, fadeaway jumper. He did a shoulder shimmy shake to get Al Thornton off balance, then pulled up over him for a three-pointer. It didn't matter who the Washington Wizards put on him or if there was a hand in his face, Bryant shot and hit. The Wizards were staggering and stupefied.

"He hit some deep threes right in my face. He hit some shots that you had to be scratching your head," Thornton said. "But he is the best player in the world. Sometimes, you got to live with those."

Bryant decked the Wizards with a lethal, 20-point second-quarter barrage that turned a four-point game into a 26-point laugher by halftime. The Los Angeles Lakers extended the lead to 28, allowing Bryant to sit for most of the fourth quarter as the Wizards staged an enthusiastic, albeit futile run before losing, 99-92, at Staples Center.

The Wizards (21-47) have lost 11 in row, which is the most since December 1995 and now ranks as the second-longest losing streak in franchise history. The franchise record is 13 consecutive losses. Los Angeles native Nick Young scored 15 of his team-high 22 points in the final period, but couldn't help but shake his head following the performance of a player he idolized growing up as a Lakers fan.

"That was the first time I'd really seen that in person," Young said.

The Wizards trailed just 28-24 when Randy Foye made a 15-foot jumper with 10 minutes left in the second period. Bryant missed five of his first six shots, but he then hit jumpers on consecutive possessions. Josh Powell converted a three-point play to put the Lakers ahead, 37-27, and Bryant scored the next five points, hitting that fadeaway over Miller and knocking down a three-pointer over him. After Thornton made a jumper to bring the Wizards to 46-33, Bryant made three three-pointers and Pau Gasol sent the Lakers (52-18) into the locker room with a 59-33 lead.

"He's a great player. He's capable of doing whenever he wants. He can catch fire like that," Andray Blatche said of Bryant. "But that first half, I'm not even going to speak on it -- we played terrible."

Coach Flip Saunders challenged his team at halftime, but the Wizards didn't start to respond until Gasol (28 points, 12 rebounds) put the Lakers ahead 65-37 early in the third period. From there, the Wizards outscored the Lakers, 55-34.

"We competed most of the time," Saunders said. "We get caught because sometimes we're undermanned or we get a little bit tired, but our guys haven't totally quit."

The Wizards were coming off a disappointing loss in which Brandon Roy hit a game-winning jumper with 0.9 of a second remaining to lead Portland to a 76-74 victory on Friday. After the game, the Wizards complained that Roy traveled before hitting his jumper over Foye, but Saunders said, "Those are the things that happen, when you're a team that's struggling."

Saunders gave his players the day off on Saturday and canceled the morning shoot-around, hoping that they would be rested for their final stop of this grueling four-game trip through some the elite teams in the Western Conference.

Several players have been banged up, including their best scoring option, Blatche, who sprained his left ankle in a loss to Denver on Tuesday. Foye has also been nursing a sore left wrist, which he has been playing with for the past month. And in the third quarter, Miller landed on his tailbone and sat the entire fourth quarter.

Saunders didn't intend to wear Lakers colors on Sunday, but he arrived at Staples Center wearing a purple and gold tie. Several people informed Saunders of his accessory choice, and he finally said it was part of his plan to distract the Lakers. "I'm trying to screw them up a little bit," Saunders joked. "I'm trying to dazzle them a little bit. They won't know who is telling them what to do."

That didn't work too well. No matter how Saunders or the Wizards tried to distract their opponent, it is impossible to ignore the Wizards' offensive woes. Young made a three-pointer as time expired to help the Wizards top 90 points for just the third time during this losing streak.

Blatche finished with 16 points, but missed 13 of 20 shots. Thornton, who spent the first 2 1/2 years of his career with the Clippers before he was traded to the Wizards on Feb. 17, felt like he was having somewhat of homecoming. The return to Los Angeles allowed him to rest in his own bed and he responded with 18 points.

Bryant finished with 24 points.

The Wizards won't have much time to rest with this trip completed. After flying directly to Washington after the game, the Wizards will have another day off before playing back-to-back games against Charlotte and in Indiana.