NBA Review: Kobe's Game-Winner Sinks Raps, Bucks Beat Celtics

A busy night in the association as eight games were played, many of which involved big playoff implications as the NBA regular season begins to come to a close.

Los Angeles Lakers 109, Toronto Raptors 107

At the Staples Centre, Kobe Bryant hit a fadeaway jumper with two Toronto Raptors in his face (for what it’s worth, they were Antoine Wright and Hedo Turkoglu) with one second left on the clock to give the Lakers a 109-107 win over the Raps. This was a huge win for the Lake Show, as they avoided their first four-game losing streak in four seasons — for Toronto, the loss put them in a precarious situation as they’re now at 32-30 on the season and just 2.5 games up on ninth-place Chicago in the race for final seedings in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

The Raps were once again paced by their dynamic big man duo of Chris Bosh (22 points, seven rebounds) and Andrea Bargnani (21 points, eight rebounds) — a sign that has to be positive for Raptors fans moving forward. If the two can establish some late-season chemistry and get this team into the postseason, it’ll go a long way in convincing Bosh to stick around next season, rather than test free agent waters.

The Lakers were paced by Bryant’s 32 points and another 22 from center Andrew Bynum, who also chipped in with six rebounds.

Milwaukee Bucks 86, Boston Celtics 84

The Bucks continued to impress with their late-season surge by tripping up the Celtics 86-84 at the Bradley Center last night. Just how good has Milwaukee been lately? They’ve won four straight, 10 of its last 11 and as a result, has vaulted from ninth to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings.

A big reason for this surge is the inspired play of C Andrew Bogut. Bogut, the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, has seemingly come into his own this year. A good passer out of the low post with a soft touch around the basket with either hand, he leads the Bucks with career-high averages of 16.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. Bogut had a monster game against the Celtics last night, piling up a game-high 25 points while hauling down 17 rebounds.

As for those Celtics — well, they continue to be a puzzling team. Despite a 40-22 record that has them third in the Eastern Conference, there are major questions as to whether the window on the Celtics’ championship aspirations has closed. The team is old (key veterans Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace and Michael Finley are all on the wrong side of 30) and doesn’t seem to have the energy of years past. The Garnett situation is most dire; he’s averaging a career low 14.4 points per game in a career-low 30.3 minutes per game, and his surgically-repaired knees just simply don’t look like they can take the punishment anymore.

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