Lakers win 11th in row, but Kobe Bryant breaks a finger

"Kurt Rambis was supposed to be the story, specifically his return to Staples Center to take on the franchise he helped guide to three championships this decade.

Then Kobe Bryant hurt his finger, the Lakers struggled in the first half against the underwhelming Minnesota Timberwolves and all the envisioned story lines were eradicated.

Bryant sustained an avulsion fracture in the index finger of his right hand but kept playing. The Lakers sustained a case of not taking the Timberwolves seriously but also kept playing on Friday, eventually winning their 11th consecutive game, 104-92.

An avulsion fracture occurs when a small fragment of bone is pulled off by a tendon, which apparently happened when Bryant took a slightly off-target entry pass from Jordan Farmar late in the first quarter.

He left briefly and returned for the start of the second quarter . . . sort of. He took one shot, passed the ball only with his left hand, and left near the quarter's midpoint for X-rays down the hall from the locker room.

He started the third quarter with a splint on the finger -- "something foamy," he said -- and made four of 11 shots in the second half, including a six-foot jump hook, left-handed, in the fourth quarter."