Cleveland: Kobe Bryant and LeBron James hugged and seemed to be in a world of their own.
One on one, despite the noise of 20,000 fans in the background.
The two superstars shared the same floor in Cleveland for the final time on Wednesday night as the Cavaliers, despite playing the second-half without Kevin Love, downed the Los Angeles Lakers 120-111 in their last game before the All-Star break.
“It was just a lot of mutual respect,” James said of the embrace. “Sometimes what is known doesn’t need to be said.”
Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 35 points and James added 29 for the Cavs.
Bryant finished with 17 points in his last performance in Cleveland, where many fans cheered his every move and fans serenaded him with “Ko-be” chants throughout the night.
For James, there has been no player of his era quite like Bryant.
“His competitive nature,” James said when asked what he admires most about Bryant. “A lot of guys might be bigger, taller or jump higher, but it’s something that’s in you that gets you to that level.”
Cleveland carried a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter, but struggled to put away the lowly Lakers.
Bryant converted a four-point play and made three free throws to get Los Angeles within 108-100, but JR Smith and James made three-pointers in the final three minutes.
The Cavs tastefully saluted Bryant during pregame introductions with a video presentation of some of his best moments. Bryant watched the tribute on the arena’s gigantic scoreboard before hearing his name and taking the floor with his teammates.
He patted his chest in appreciation as Cleveland’s crowd - dotted with fans wearing Bryant’s purple-and-gold No 24 jersey - chanted his name.
“It felt great to play here so many years and get that type of reaction,” Bryant said of the crowd’s salute. “It was really special.”
Bryant said there have been great moments and some hard ones to handle during his league-wide farewell tour.
Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell got drilled in his groin area by a hard pass thrown by James in the fourth quarter. Russell dropped to the floor and stayed there for several moments before he walked gingerly to the bench, where Bryant was laughing.
At Phoenix, Stephen Curry nearly had a triple-double before sitting out the fourth quarter, and Golden State stormed into the All-Star break on an 11-game winning streak with a 112-104 victory over free-falling Phoenix.
Curry had 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the defending NBA champions. At 48-4, the Warriors have the best record through 52 games in NBA history, one win better than the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls and 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers.
In other results, the Hawks beat the Bulls 113-90, the Timberwolves had a 117-112 win over the Raptors 112, the Pelicans held off the Jazz 100-96, the Grizzlies beat the Nets 109-90 and the Hornets had a 117-95 win against the Pacers.