Los Angeles Lakers

Kobe Bryant scored 28 points, Shannon Brown added 15 and the Los Angeles Lakers thrived again without their top two big men, beating the New Orleans Hornets 104-88 Sunday night. DJ Mbenga had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the defending NBA champions, who easily won their fifth straight game and their second in a row without injured center Andrew Bynum and forward Pau Gasol. Bryant scored all but two of his points before halftime, repeatedly capitalizing down low with ease against Devin Brown's defense. Los Angeles opened a 27-point lead in the third quarter and coasted to a 6-1 start. Chris Paul had ... Read Full Story

Kobe Bryant scored 41 points while becoming the youngest player to reach 24,000, leading the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers to a 114-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night. Ron Artest had 19 points and seven assists in the fourth straight win for the defending NBA champions, who played without injured big men Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Lamar Odom managed just three points before fouling out on his 30th birthday, but Bryant carried the Lakers while reaching his latest scoring milestone 38 days before Wilt Chamberlain did. With a second-half surge, he even overtook Grizzlies guard Allen Iverson for 16th place on ... Read Full Story

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kobe Bryant scored 41 points to lead the injury-hit Los Angeles Lakers to a 114-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. Bryant made 19-of-30 shots for his second 40-point performance in a row, and his third in four games, as last season's NBA champions carved out another win despite the absence of injured starters Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Ron Artest had 11 of his 19 points in the third quarter where the Lakers (5-1) used a 9-0 spurt to build a 74-64 advantage. Artest added seven assists and six rebounds as he continues to grow comfortable with his ... Read Full Story

Trevor Ariza and Carl Landry scored 21 points apiece and the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak over the Oklahoma City franchise to 11 games by beating the Thunder 105-94 Friday night. Luis Scola added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets. Russell Westbrook scored 33 points and Kevin Durant added 27 for the Thunder, who've lost nine straight games in Houston. Westbrook and Durant scored 16 of Oklahoma City's first 19 points in the final quarter to keep the Thunder in it, but never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. Jeff Green shot 3 for 15, ... Read Full Story

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Kobe Bryant scored 41 points to guide the Los Angeles Lakers to a 103-102 overtime victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Andrew Bynum made three successive free throws for the NBA champion Lakers (4-1) in the extra session, including one that broke a 102-102 tie with 24 seconds remaining. "We have experience in winning games and toughing it out," Los Angeles forward Lamar Odom told reporters. "Kobe did a great job of taking over the game offensively and Bynum dominated the game with his rebounding." Bynum finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds while the Rockets had six players in ... Read Full Story