Monta was spectacular in the fourth.
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 8:27 amPHOENIX -- Kobe Bryant lashed out at Los Angeles Lakers management Sunday night for leaving teammate Pau Gasol wondering whether hes about to be traded. . In a post-game monologue punctuated by a couple of profanities, Bryant said the Lakers either need to trade Gasol or come out and say it wont happen. Bryants comments came in the aftermath of a 102-90 loss at Phoenix on Sunday night. He said he doesnt want Gasol to be traded but its unfair for his teammate to try to play when he doesnt know if hell be somewhere else the following day. As Bryant put it: "If theyre going to do something, I wish they would just ... do it." "Listen, hes been the consummate professional," Bryant said. "Hes going out and hes trying to do what he can. But lets be real. If you didnt know you were going to be here tomorrow, if your heads on the chopping block and you feel like youre just waiting, its tough to put all yourself in the game." Trade rumours about Gasol have circulated since the team thought it had shipped him to New Orleans in a three-team deal before the season that would have brought Chris Paul to the Lakers. But NBA Commissioner David Stern blocked the trade. "Its hard for Pau because of all this trade talk and stuff," Bryant said, bringing up the subject even though no one asked him about it. "Its hard for him to kind of invest himself completely or immerse himself completely into games when hes hearing trade talk every other day. I wish management would either come out and either trade him or not trade him." Bryant said the Lakers have the foundation for another run at the NBA title with Gasol, who had 17 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to Phoenix. "It obviously starts with myself and Pau and the emergence of Andrew (Bynum)," Bryant said, "but you cant have one of our pillars not knowing if hes going to be here or not. Do something. One way or another, do something. If they trade him at least you have some type of closure, he gets some type of closure." Bryant, as usual, was the last player to speak to reporters Sunday night. Gasol had already left after talking about the game but mentioning nothing about a potential trade. "I talked to him a little bit about it," Bryant said. "Its just tough for a player to give his all when you dont know if youre going to be here tomorrow. So Id rather them not trade him at all. If they were going to do something, I wish they would just ... do it. If theyre not going to do it, come out and say youre not going to do it. This way he can be comfortable, he can go out and perform and he can play and he can invest all of himself in the game." Bryants comments come as the Lakers adjust to new coach Mike Brown in a lockout-shortened campaign after all their years of success under Phil Jackson, who retired after last season. Bryant touched on that, too. "Its a big challenge to fill those shoes, first of all," Bryant said, "and still trying to figure out our team and our personality, how we think. I mean thats tough to do in such a short schedule." . The UFC announced Tuesday that light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado will move up a weight class to replace the injured dos Santos to take on Stipe Miocic on May 31 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. . -- For more than four months, the Portland Winterhawks were invincible on home ice. . Felix-Antoine Savage and Tyler Boland also scored for the Oceanic (45-15-7) and Philippe Desrosiers made 22 saves for the victory. Adam Chapman forced overtime for the Remparts (38-17-12) when he scored at 19:47 of the third period while playing 6-on-5.SALT LAKE CITY -- Before he even got the ball on the first play of the game, Dirk Nowitzki decided he was going to shoot. When that went in, he just kept on shooting. "I didnt even wait to see if theyd double team. I was going to get a shot up regardless. That got things jumpstarted," Nowitzki said. Nowitzki scored 31 points and moved into sole possession of the No. 12 spot on the all-time NBA scoring list in the Dallas Mavericks 108-101 win over the Utah Jazz Wednesday. He made 12 of 14 from the field and all four of his 3-point attempts to help the Mavs snap a three-game road losing skid. "I was determined to set a more aggressive tone tonight," he said. "The way weve been playing offensively, something needed to change." Trey Burke scored 20 points and Enes Kanter had 18 points and 11 rebounds, but the Jazz struggled down the stretch against Dallas long-range shooting. The Mavericks converted 13 of 21 3-point attempts -- their best percentage of the season topping the last time they played Utah with a 10-of-18 performance on Feb. 7. Meanwhile, the Jazz went 5 of 26. On the first possession of the game, Nowitzki drained his trademark one-legged fade-away jumper, which moved him past John Havlicek for 12th place on the NBAs all-time scoring list. "He really led our team tonight," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Dirk was great from start to finish. I mean, shooting 12-of-14 is ridiculous and 4-for-4 from 3, its hard to do much better than that." Havlicek scored 26,395 points and Dominique Wilkins is No. 11 in the record books with 26,668. With more games like this one, Nowitzki could possibly reach the top 10 this season by passing Oscar Robertson (26,710). "I havent been quite on fire lately, but I got out early and was really looking to get my groove," he said. Monta Ellis, on the other hand, started slow but finished strong -- scoring 13 of his 16 points in the second half and tallying 11 assists and seven rebounds for Dallas. "After a frustrating first half, Monta stayed patient, disciplined and aggressive. He took what the defence gave him and got the jumper going. . Then he made a bunch of plays," Carlisle said. Nowitzki agreed and gave plenty of praise to Ellis. "Monta was spectacular in the fourth. I dont always need to grind and go to the post and try and make some stuff happen. He knows how to nick his guy and a bit and next thing you know hes at the rim," he said. Devin Harris, who was a game-time decision with a strained Achilles, scored 12 and kept Dallas in the eighth Western Conference playoff slot. Derrick Favours scored 15 points and Alec Burks had 13 points and a career-high eight assists, but the Jazz have lost seven of their past eight games in this rebuilding season. Neither team led by more than seven points until Ellis and Jose Calderon made back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 101-93 with 3:04 to play. Burke made a 3-pointer for the Jazz, but then Ellis made a jumper and then assisted Nowitzki for another shot beyond the arc to put the game out of reach. Nowitzki said he appreciates how easy Ellis can make it for him. "He is just so explosive off the pick-and-roll. Hes fun to play with ... and he just exploits any mistake the defenders make in their coverage," Nowitzki said. The back-and-forth game featured 17 ties and 18 lead changes before the Mavericks made all the key shots down the stretch. "Dirk, in my opinion, was spectacular. I tried a lot of different coverages on him and he still made tough shots. Thats what great players do in this league," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. Burke had his second consecutive 20-point game after struggling with his shot most of his rookie season. But he marveled at what Nowtizki has been doing for more than 15 years. "We tried to contain Dirk but you just have to take your hat off to him, when a guy has a night like that," Burke said. Notes: Dallas forward Jae Crowder sat out his second game with a strained abdominal muscle suffered Sunday against Indiana. . Dallas coach Rick Carlisle got a technical for complaining about Burke kicking out his feet on his jump shots. . The Jazz outscored the Mavericks 56-32 in the paint. ' ' '