USA - Kobe's 50-point streak comes to an end but Lakers win

NEW YORK (NBA) - Kobe Bryant scored 43 points and fellow Team USA star Lamar Odom added 24 and a career-high 19 rebounds as the Lakers prevailed 115-113 over the Golden State Warriors.

French international center Rony Turiaf added some offense and energy to a sloppy effort by Los Angeles (38-32), who won their fifth straight contest and moved two games ahead of Denver (35-33) for fifth place in the Western Conference play-off race.

"It's always a team effort even though I scored 40 points or 50 points, whatever it is," Bryant said. "You have to have your team-mates playing well in such a case, getting offensive rebounds and doing things that they do in order to win basketball games."

With 50 points in Friday's 111-105 triumph over the New Orleans Hornets, Bryant joined the great Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to score 50 in four straight contests.

"We tried to make it hard for Kobe," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "It was a great performance. I can imagine what he has been doing. To get 43 against us, we were double teaming him quite a lot. We were as difficult as we could be on him."

It was not too difficult early on, as Bryant looked headed toward a fifth straight 50-point outburst when he scored nine points in the first two minutes and finished the first quarter with 17.

But the Warriors regrouped, chipped away and used a 13-2 run in the third quarter to forge a 78-71 lead with 6:13 remaining in the session.

However, it was the Lakers' turn in the fourth quarter. Turiaf scored six points and capped a 14-0 run with a lefthanded layup to give the Lakers a 104-98 edge with five minutes left.

"I really wanted to reward coach Jackson for sticking with me," Turiaf said. "I started off trying to throw the ball to Kobe and turned the ball over. He could have taken me out, but he didn't, he stuck with me, so I felt like I had to give him something to keep him happy. I tried to hustle and I am glad things turned out positive for me."

After Bryant missed the second of two free throws for a 112-110 lead with 20 seconds left, Odom corralled the offensive rebound, got fouled and converted two free throws two seconds later.

"I just played with a lot of energy and effort," Odom said. "(Golden State forward Al) Harrington was having a pretty good offensive game and I felt like I had to do just a little bit more. A couple of them were offensive rebounds and when you get offensive rebounds you give your team a second chance."

Stephen Jackson knocked down a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining to cut the Warriors' deficit to 114-113. But after Bryant split a pair from the line again, Al Harrington's long three-point attempt missed.

Turiaf added five rebounds and a key block on Monte Ellis' drive with 45 ticks left and Los Angeles clinging to a 110-107 lead. His efforts helped overcome 25 turnovers. Golden State committed just eight.

The Lakers countered with a relentless rebounding attack, holding a 63-33 edge on the boards, including 21 offensive rebounds.

Ellis tied his career high with 31 points off the bench and Harrington added 23 for the Warriors (33-38), who dropped one and a half games behind the idle Los Angeles Clippers for the eighth and final Western Conference play-off spot.

Manu, Parker shine for Spurs

Argentina’s Manu Ginobili scored 19 points off the bench and French point guard Tony Parker scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half as the Spurs posted a 120-79 rout of the Supersonics.

It was the seventh loss in the last nine games for Seattle, who already had suffered a pair of blowout losses to San Antonio by a combined total of 51 points.

Ginobili killed the Supersonics from the outside, knocking down five of nine three-pointers.

"We moved the ball really well," Ginobili said. "Their zone did not match up well because they were so concerned with Duncan down low. That gave me wide-open looks and I just made them."

Anthony, Iverson lead Nuggets

Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson trumped LeBron James to bounce back from a disappointing performance.

Team USA captain Anthony scored 27 points and Iverson added 18 and 12 assists as the Denver Nuggets snapped a two-game skid with a 105-93 victory over James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Brazilian international Nene collected 21 points and nine rebounds for the Nuggets, who had reeled off a five-game winning streak before dropping back-to-back road contests against Chicago and Toronto this week.

Paul leads Hornets past Yao, Rockets

Team USA point guard Chris Paul scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half as the New Orleans Hornets posted a 106-94 victory over the Houston Rockets.

David West had 23 points and Desmond Mason added 19 for the Hornets (32-38), who moved within two games of the idle Los Angeles Clippers (34-36) for eighth place in the Western Conference play-off race.

Tyson Chandler had 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks and played excellent defense on Chinese international center Yao Ming, who was only seven of 22 from the floor.

Gordon strikes again for Bulls

Gordon scored 31 points, including the game-winning basket with 2.8 seconds left, as the Bulls edged the Indiana Pacers, 92-90.

The Bulls' leading scorer at 21.3 points per game, Gordon drove to the right of the free-throw line, spun backwards and floated a 12-foot jumper over Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Garnett shines as Timberwolves win

Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and drilled the game-winning shot as time expired to lift the Timberwolves to a 94-93 triumph over the Trail Blazers.

It was just the fifth victory in the last 17 games for Minnesota (30-39), who climbed within 3 1/2 games of the idle Los Angeles Clippers (34-36) for the eighth and final post-season berth in the Western Conference.

Mike Bibby nailed a franchise-record nine three-pointers en route to 37 points as the Sacramento Kings posted just their second win in the last 10 games, an emotional 107-100 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Injuries and poor play have had the Kings struggling to stay afloat in the battle for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

But the Kings were playing like they did back when they were at the top of the West standings in years past.

"We've got 12 games left, so we're going to play as hard as we can every game and still try to get that last spot," Bibby said.

Sacramento avoided a second loss to Phoenix this week.

Amare Stoudemire abused the Kings for 33 points and 21 rebounds in a 118-100 win on Thursday in Phoenix.

Pistons hammer Bucks

Jason Maxiell and Flip Murray took advantage of rare starts and combined for 35 points and reserve Antonio McDyess sparked a big second-quarter outburst as the Pistons coasted for a 121-95 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Tayshaun Prince added 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting for Detroit (44-25), which shot 57% (49 of 86) from the floor and moved two games ahead of Cleveland (42-27) for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Nowitzki, Howard pace Mavs

Germany national team star Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard helped the Dallas Mavericks remain perfect on their road trip.

Nowitzki and Howard scored 28 points apiece to pace the red-hot Mavericks to a 104-97 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks.

It was the sixth consecutive victory for the Western Conference leaders, who improved to 5-0 on a six-game road trip.

The Mavericks wrap up the trek Tuesday against the New Orleans Hornets.

Jeff Taylor
FIBA