Lakers vs. Spurs: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2014 Regular Season

On a night when Kobe Bryant was supposed to make history, Nick Young stole the show, hitting a go-ahead three-pointer with 7.4 seconds left in overtime to propel the Los Angeles Lakers to a 112-110 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the AT&T Center on Friday night.

The Lakers were less than a minute from pulling off arguably their best win of the season in regulation.

After trying and failing to overtake Los Angeles for much of the second half, the Spurs mounted a late charge. Manu Ginobili hit a three-pointer with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter to close the Lakers' lead to four points, 101-97. A little less than 40 seconds later, Danny Green capitalized on a Bryant turnover with another three to make it a one-point game, 101-100.

Zach Harper of CBSSports.com joked that Bryant was stealthily finding a way to prolong the game so as to allow himself more time to pass Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list:

Bryant's poor play was again at the fore as he let Ginobili get the baseline and set up for the potential game-winner in the dying seconds. Bomani Jones described the move in simple terms:

Jordan Hill fouled Ginobili on the shot, sending the Argentine to the foul line for two shots. Ginobili, a career 83.2 percent free-throw shooter, only hit one of the two free throws, tying the game.

Both the Lakers and Spurs had a chance to win the game before time expired in regulation, but Bryant and Tim Duncan had shots go begging.

The overtime period was similarly competitive, with the Lakers building a three-point lead, 109-106, with 1:47 to go. Duncan then put the Spurs in the lead with consecutive baskets, the last of which came with 64 seconds remaining.

That merely set the stage for Young's frantic heave from well beyond the arc as the shot clock approached zeroes.

Young played well all game, leading all scorers with 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting. After the win, he admitted that a little prodding from Kobe helped to give him the added incentive to make the game-winner, per Mike Trudell of Lakers.com:

Green and Duncan scored 19 apiece for the Spurs in the loss, with Duncan passing Jerry West on the all-time scoring list, per NBA TV:

Tony Parker struggled to find his shot, finishing 2-of-5 from the floor with five points, which led to some of the Spurs' problems on the offensive end. Cory Joseph added some much-needed scoring at point guard, playing 35 minutes off the bench and finishing with 16 points.

The biggest storyline entering the game was Kobe Bryant's pursuit of Jordan on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Coming into Friday night, he needed 31 points to pass Jordan to take sole possession of third.

Now into his 19th season, Bryant's been inextricably linked with Jordan throughout his career, and USA Today's Adi Joseph argued that the two are cut from the same cloth:

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The influence is obvious. Watch Bryant operate from the low post or on the baseline, then imagine those moves being done in a red-and-black No. 23 jersey instead of his purple-and-gold No. 24. There's a presence, a competitive fire that defines each legend. Jordan's tongue-wagging has been replaced by Bryant's jutting chin and jersey-gnawing.

"I think Kobe Bryant studied MJ, to be honest," Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson said. "The way he moves, even after he won his fifth championship he did the same celebration that MJ did (pumping his fist and rallying the home crowd). ... I think he models most of the things he does after Jordan."

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FiveThirtyEight weighed in with a metric comparison between the two, and Jordan won decisively:

While that debate will continue to rage on for decades, what isn't in doubt is that Kobe remains behind MJ in the record books. Bryant only scored 22 points on 7-of-22 shooting, now needing nine points to overtake Jordan.

Many wondered if Bryant would prioritize passing Jordan over winning the game, but that didn't prove to be true. His final shot tally was almost directly in line with his average of 22.4 shots a game entering Friday night, and that's after the extra period.

At times, it was as if Bryant got more satisfaction from stringing the fans along. Per the Twitter account netw3rk, Kobe was using "MJ-record rope-a-dope passes":

As a result, the Lakers' supporting cast stole the show. In addition to Young, L.A.'s bench played a pivotal role. Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin each added 14 points. Boozer finished with a double-double, grabbing 13 boards in addition to his point total. Even Robert Sacre contributed productive minutes, scoring four points and collecting six rebounds.

As if Bryant's attempt to catch Jordan didn't add enough intrigue to the game, this was also the first time the Lakers took the court since Kobe unleashed an expletive-laden rant against his teammates during a practice on Thursday, per ESPN.com's Arash Markazi.

While Magic Johnson may be content to see the Lakers tank this year, Bryant won't sit idly by as the team hovers near the bottom of the Western Conference.

His teammates responded positively in the first half against the Spurs, helping Los Angeles run out to a 54-50 halftime lead. Bryant struggled to find a groove, shooting 3-of-9 and scoring 11 points in the first two quarters.

Luckily for the Lakers, Young and Lin stepped up, combining to score 27 points and shoot 7-of-8 from three-point range. Young in particular started out hot, hitting his first five attempts from behind the arc.

Trudell compared Young's hot start to catching fire in NBA Jam:

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times pondered that Young might manage to catch up with Kobe and MJ on the scoring list:

Kawhi Leonard didn't suit up for the Spurs on Friday, which meant the rest of the team would have to compensate. The majority of the scoring burden fell to Duncan and Parker. While the former nearly posted a double-double in the first half (10 points, nine rebounds), the latter failed to score a single point.

As Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News pointed out, San Antonio received little production from its French contingent:

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News felt the game was playing against type in almost every respect:

Los Angeles continued to strike a great balance on the offensive end and remained committed on defense, building an 11-point lead, 86-75, heading into the fourth quarter. The Spurs kept getting to within arm's reach of the Lakers, and then L.A. would quickly turn a two- or three-point lead into a five- or six-point lead.

The first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter were essentially a carbon copy of the third. The Spurs continued hanging around, but they couldn't string together enough of an offensive run to take the lead. Then came San Antonio's late push that sent the game into OT.

On balance of the entire game, the Lakers earned the win. They were the better team for the majority of the game.

The Lakers have a day off prior to their next game, after which they travel to Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. It's obviously foolish to add too much importance to a game in December, but Friday night was one of Los Angeles' best performances of the season. It will be interesting to see if the team can build on that.

The Spurs also get Saturday off before they hit the road on Sunday to play the Denver Nuggets. San Antonio won't put too much stock into a loss to the Lakers, even at home.