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Kobe Bryant misses second consecutive game because of sore back

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Kobe Bryant didn’t play in the Lakers’ game Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic because of a sore back, but Coach Byron Scott said Bryant is hoping to play Friday night in Dallas.

Bryant missed his second consecutive game because of his back, his goal of playing in all 82 games a thing of the past when he missed Tuesday night’s game at Miami.

“I’ve got a pretty good feeling that he’ll be ready Friday, from just talking to him,” Scott said before the Lakers played the Magic. “His back felt better today. But I don’t know how this is going to play out. Only Kobe can tell you that because he knows his body better than we do.

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“We’re just going to play it by ear. The games that he’s ready to play, he’s going to play, and when he’s not, if he needs some rest, if he has some little ailments that are bothering him, then we give him the day off.”

Bryant told the media after the game in Miami that he “had trouble walking.”

“I hurt the back a little bit during training camp,” Bryant said.

Scott said he was unaware Bryant was injured in camp. Scott said Bryant first complained of back problems after the team’s practice in New York on Saturday.

“That last practice we had in New York is when he started to feel it a little bit,” Scott said. “But in training camp, I don’t remember that. Like I said, he knows his body so it might have happened in camp and he just didn’t tell us about it because it was very minor. But the first I heard about it was when we had that practice in New York, when he said after practice it was a little sore.”

Follow Broderick Turner on Twitter @BA_Turner

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