Kobe Bryant Blames Teammate Pau Gasol After Loss

Kobe Bryant Blames Teammate Pau Gasol After Loss

Another fourth-quarter collapse once again caused the Los Angeles Lakers their loss. They didn't show much composure in the locker room, either, with Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant throwing blames at teammates for allowing the Oklahoma City Thunder to steal their second victory in three games.

Unluckily, Bryant missed 8 of his 10 shots in the final quarter, but shrugged it off by saying his teammates' lack of aggressiveness "forced" him to take tough shots. He also made clear which teammate deserved the most blame for the 103-100 loss in Game 4.

Bryant blamed Gasol the most for not playing aggressively enough. It was also Gasol's turnover that led to Kevin Durant making the winning 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left.

Pau Gasol totaled just 10 points and five rebounds in the Lakers' loss.  Bryant has periodically criticizes Gasol, hoping to motivate him to lift his performance. But with the Lakers now down 3-1 in the series and facing Game 5 on Monday in Oklahoma City, Bryant's patience has been exhausted.

Gasol's inconsistency in the game has been a problem for the Lakers throughout the season, and he never seemed to recover after the team tried to trade him in December to the Houston Rockets.  NBA commissioner David Stern blocked the trade, and Gasol has admitted his rocky status with the franchise has bothered him.

After a dominant first half by Andrew Bynum on Saturday, the Thunder began fronting the Lakers' center with Kendrick Perkins. Bryant thought Gasol didn't attack enough when Serge Ibaka left him to help Perkins.

Had the Lakers showed more poise in end-of-game situations, they — not the Thunder — would be one victory away from reaching the Western Conference finals.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday May 21 2012, 3:25 AM EST. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0