NBA - Lakers cool off Warriors (+ videos)
LOS ANGELES (NBA) - After struggling much of the first quarter, Kobe Bryant finished with 28 points to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 123-113 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night. Andrew Bynum had 20 points and 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season and Lamar Odom contributed 14 ...
LOS ANGELES (NBA) - After struggling much of the first quarter, Kobe Bryant finished with 28 points to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 123-113 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.
Andrew Bynum had 20 points and 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season and Lamar Odom contributed 14 and 10 rebounds to lead seven players in double-figure scoring for the Lakers.
Bryant, who shot just 1-of-7 shooting in the game's first 10 minutes, re-grouped to score 25 points the rest of the way for Los Angeles.
The All-Star guard entered the contest averaging 27.1 points, second in the NBA behind Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James' 30.7 per contest. Bryant has now led the Lakers in scoring in all but two of his team's games.
The Warriors had won 11 of their last 13 games following an 0-6 start to the season. They entered the contest with one of the NBA's most prolific offenses, averaging 110.3 points. The Warriors had scored 120 points in their last two games.
Caron Butler had 28 points to lead the Washington Wizards to a 104-89 victory over the New Jersey Nets, ending the league's longest current losing streak by one team against another.
The Nets, who dropped their third in a row, had won six straight and eight of their past nine against the Wizards.
Antawn Jamison added 22 points and 10 rebounds for Washington (10-10), which climbed to the .500 mark for the fifth time this season. DeShawn Stevenson added 12 points for the Wizards.
Chris Bosh scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half as the Toronto Raptors overcame a sluggish start to defeat the Houston Rockets 93-80.
It was an impressive victory for Toronto, which had been playing without Bosh and fellow injured forward Andrea Bargnani.
Although Bargnani missed his fourth straight game with a knee injury, Bosh returned from a five-game absence to lead the Raptors, who erased a 16-2 first-quarter deficit.
Brandon Roy had 26 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers erased deficits late in regulation and the extra period en route to a 117-113 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points, including clutch free throws at the end of regulation, for Portland, which now is 7-3 at home. It is a putrid 1-9 away from the Rose Garden.
But it was not easy in this one for the Blazers, who needed to erase a four-point deficit in the final minute of regulation and five-point hole midway through overtime to secure the victory.
Chris Paul collected 29 points and 10 assists as the short-handed New Orleans Hornets escaped with a 91-88 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics.
After scoring a career-high 43 points in his last game, Paul had to continue his red-hot shooting to make up for the losses of starters Peja Stojakovic (groin) and Morris Peterson (back).
The 2005-06 Rookie of the Year connected on 10-of-16 shots and made 8-of-9 free throws. It also was Paul's 11th time with at least 10 assists this season.
Dwyane Wade had 35 points and 10 assists as the Miami Heat stopped their second five-game losing streak this season with Sunday's 100-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Despite the win, the Heat (5-15) are off to their second-worst start in franchise history through the first 20 contests since opening the 1988-89 campaign at 1-19.
Finally, Chauncey Billups scored 20 points and Antonio McDyess added 19 and nine rebounds as the Detroit Pistons avoided getting beat up by a sub.-500 club with a convincing 104-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
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