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Kobe working to stay fresh through season

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Kobe Bryant has been feeling fatigued and his shots have been falling short. The veteran Los Angeles Lakers star hopes a change in his routine can help fix that issue, and also keep him fresh during the course of a long season.

After consulting with Lakers strength and conditioning coach Tim DiFrancesco, Bryant said he'll focus more on taking ice baths on some days, and on extra lower body weightlifting on others. And on some non-game days, such as Tuesday, he'll do almost nothing.

"It's a fine balance at 36 [years old], trying to find the rhythm of strengthening your legs as the season goes on without wearing them out," Bryant said after his team's practice Tuesday. "We're in uncharted territory in terms of trying to figure this out, but we will."

Bryant shot 4-of-14 in the fourth quarter and overtime of Sunday's loss to the Denver Nuggets, and he shot just 3-of-10 in the second half of a blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks last week.

"The second half of games for me have been a struggle lately with my legs," Bryant said. "My shot's just been really short even though my legs feel good."

Lakers coach Byron Scott said Bryant, who is leading the league in scoring (26.7 points per game), might also play fewer minutes in an effort to conserve energy.

"It's a work in progress," Scott said. "He's played 19 years. He knows his body better than anybody, but we can see also watching the tape that everything was a tad short, which tells me that the legs were a little fatigued."

Bryant is averaging a team-high 35.7 minutes per game entering Wednesday's contest against the Memphis Grizzlies.