Kobe Bryant 'happy as hell' in role as Lakers' playmaker

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant smacks Thunder forward Nick Collison as he releases a pass during Sunday's 105-96 win. (Photo: Reed Saxon, AP)

Story Highlights

• Kobe Bryant reached 14 assists for second consecutive game in Lakers' win vs. Thunder
• Bryant said afterward, "It feels good to finally beat a team that's worth a (expletive)"
• Bryant altered game as team struggled; "I think he's happy as hell," coach Mike D'Antoni said

  LOS ANGELES — His Los Angeles Lakers, mired all season long in the sort of slump that no one saw coming, logged their best win yet Sunday by beating an Oklahoma City Thunder team that so many consider the best in the NBA.

  And Kobe Bryant didn't mince his words.

  "It feels good to finally beat a team that's worth a (expletive)," he said after the 105-96 victory in which he posted 21 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds while shooting 8-for-12 from the field.

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  Bryant, whose greatness is indisputable but who is one of the most ball-dominant players in the history of the game, has turned into a Steve Nash clone in the past two games.

  Sunday's game was his second in a row with 14 assists, one off his career-high and 21 more combined than Nash, the team's future Hall of Fame point guard, has totaled in that span. According to ESPN, this was just the fourth time in Bryant's 17-year career that he finished a game in which he played 30-plus minutes with more assists than field-goal attempts — and he has done it for two games in a row. Bryant, who became known as "Kobe Johnson" by way of his Twitter account after Friday's game as a comedic homage to Magic Johnson, has come within one rebound of a triple-double in both games.

  D'ANTONI: 'i'm just trying to do my job,' coach says

  Considering the Lakers' lack of ball movement had been deemed a major problem by coach Mike D'Antoni, the question now is whether Bryant is content playing this way on a consistent basis. It's the easiest way to relieve pressure on this team full of all-world talents, with Bryant's playmaking opening up opportunities for Lakers center Dwight Howard and the rest. As Howard acknowledged, the Lakers (19-25) are desperate for solutions like this one considering they're still four games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

  "It's trying to evolve and figured out what we need as a ballclub," Bryant said of his new style. "Instead of me being a finisher, I'm just really facilitating and drawing the defense in and making plays. I game-planned for it, and it seems to be working."

  D'Antoni, who has struggled to get his all-for-one-one-for-all message across since being hired in mid-November, is hoping this isn't an aberration for Bryant.

  "I think he likes (playing this way)," D'Antoni said. "I think he's happy as hell."
  Source : http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2013/01/27/kobe-bryant-los-angeles-oklahoma-city-thunder-passing/1869501/