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The strain on Kobe to carry a team that was supposed to lean more on Ron Artest and Lamar Odom has been evident down the stretch. The health concerns of Andrew Bynum will likely increase the burden on Bryant. For the Thunder to have a shot, they will need to have Russell Westbrook step up as it is likely that Kevin Durant will be slowed from the attention showered on him by the Lakers D.

The former Laker guard, now running the point for Guangdong of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), is hoping to carry his Southern Tigers to the league title as they play the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the championship series beginning today.
The force behind Xinjiang’s team is Mongolian center Mengke Bateer, the first Chinese player to start for an NBA team and the first to win an NBA championship (San Antonio Spurs, 2003).