Shaquille O'Neal on Kobe Bryant's Retirement: "A Poem, Seriously?"

Kevin Martin led all scorers with 37 points while rookie Karl-Anthony Towns posted 26 points and 14 rebounds to further enhance his chances to win the Rookie of the Year award.

Guard Andrew Wiggins missed a turnaround jumper at the horn on the other end but scored four of his team's nine points in overtime as Minnesota snapped a four-game losing streak and finished a four-game homestand 1-3. "So we'll see what the fans and the coaches decide, and then we'll go from there". The Lakers tumbled to 3-18 in the overall standings while Toronto, which ended a two-game home slide, improved to 13-9.

The Lakers hit 39.8% of their field goals, 31.2% (10-32) of their three-point attempts and 85.0% (17-20) of their free throws, wasting one of Bryant's strongest games of the season, 25 points on nine of 16 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

"I even wore the first Kobe's from Adidas tonight", he said.

And, at least to start with, it appeared Bryant might roll back the clock a little bit.

Kobe Bryant and D'Angelo Russell had the Los Angeles Lakers off to a hot start against the Houston Rockets, but ultimately the team's poor defense, lack of depth, and puzzling rotations combined to result in a 126-97 loss in the final game of their eight game road trip.

While Lakers fans in attendance chanted his name midway through the fourth quarter, Bryant stayed on the bench with a towel draped over his back.

"I hope to see him there", Silver said, according to the Los Angeles Times' Eric Pincus. "I thought our first unit was doing a good job and the second unit was bad".

The Lakers and Spurs have met in the playoffs seven times since Bryant has been in the league, although Bryant missed the 2013 series due to his torn Achilles' tendon.

Bryant scored 11 points on 5-for-13 shooting, but he sat the entire fourth quarter and overtime. Aldridge topped that with 16 points, including 14 in the first quarter.

Jordan Clarkson is in the final year of his two year rookie contract. "I was cheering his name too". When a guy like him says 'That's a great call.' You're like, 'Yeah.

Lakers coach Byron Scott was a member of the famous Magic Johnson-led showtime Lakers in the '80s, and his last season was Bryant's first.

Russell, who was taken No. 2 after Towns in June's National Basketball Association draft, came off the bench and had a team-high 23 points after only scoring two in the first half. Bryant is a serious competitor who is always focused, while Howard loves to clown around and only play serious when he feels like it. This feud wasn't as serious as Kobe's feud with Shaq, so it's no surprise that they are on good terms now.

Harden wanted to do something to honor Bryant on Saturday night, so he donned special shoes for the occasion.