Kobe Bryant was a frustrated television viewer and a passionate tweeter as he watched the Lakers lose 91-79 to the Spurs yesterday in San Antonio in their first-round playoff opener.
Bryant, sidelined after having surgery last weekend on an Achilles tendon, kept urging on the Lakers’ big men, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, to make the most of their inside presence.
Though Howard finished with a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds and Gasol with 16 points and 16 rebounds, the seventh-seeded Lakers were outrebounded by a 44-43 margin.
“Post. Post. Post,” Bryant tweeted during the game. “Gotta milk pau in the post right now and d12. Will get good looks from it.”
Earlier, Bryant had tweeted: “What I would say if I was there right now? “Pau get ur on the block and don’t move till u get it.”
Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni, when asked for his views on Bryant’s pleas via Twitter for a greater inside presence, replied: “Yeah, that’s what we did. It’s great to have that commentary.”
Point guard Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili each scored 18 points for the Spurs, who never trailed after going 4-2 up in the opening quarter.
“Nothing worse than watching your brothers struggle and u can’t do [stuff] about it,” Bryant tweeted.
Heat 110, Bucks 87
In Miami, LeBron James scored 27 points on 9-for-11 shooting, Ray Allen scored 20 off the bench and the Heat never trailed en route to a Game 1 win over Milwaukee.
Dwyane Wade scored 16, Chris Bosh added 15 and Chris Andersen finished with 10 on 4-for-4 shooting for the Heat, who opened their title defense by holding Milwaukee to 42 percent shooting.
Brandon Jennings had 26 points for the Bucks. Game 2 is tomorrow in Miami.
Thunder 120, Rockets 91
In Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 24 points and the Thunder routed Houston.
James Harden led the Rockets with 20 points. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.
Pacers 107, Hawks 90
In Indianapolis, Paul George scored 23 points and recorded his first playoff triple-double as Indiana took a 1-0 lead in their playoff series.
The Hawks were led by Jeff Teague with 21 points. The series resumes Wednesday.
* All-Star forward David Lee of the Warriors is out for the season after tearing his right hip flexor during Golden State’s 97-95 Game 1 loss Saturday to the Nuggets.