Kobe Bryant is mired in a bit of a scoring slump, and the Los Angeles Lakers have had some trouble slowing down opponents. A game against the struggling Golden State Warriors could be the answer to both of those problems. Bryant and the Lakers look to continue their dominance over the Warriors Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. After winning eight of 10, Los Angeles has dropped three of five. The Lakers, who allow an average of 93.4 points and are one of the league's top rebounding teams at 45.5 per game, have given up at least 102 points in each of the last three defeats and have been outrebounded in the past two. In Sunday's 102-96 loss to Memphis, Los Angeles (30-19) allowed the Grizzlies to shoot 51.2 percent and score 52 points in the paint.
In the Lakers' lone matchup of the season with the Warriors on Jan. 6, Bryant had 39 points on 13-of-28 shooting in a 97-90 win. Los Angeles has won 13 of the last 14 meetings, and Bryant is averaging 28.4 points in 16 games against Golden State since 2007-08. The Warriors will likely be short-handed for this game with Stephen Curry nursing a right ankle sprain and Nate Robinson sidelined with a strained right hamstring. Rookie Charles Jenkins started for Robinson against Portland on Sunday and finished with a career-high 27 points, but he missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer in a 90-87 loss. Rookie Klay Thompson has also done a solid job of stepping up in the wake of the Ellis trade, averaging 19.7 points in starting the last nine games.
