BEIJING, March. 2 -- Kobe Bryant had 28 points and
eight assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers over the Orlando Magic 102-87
Tuesday night.
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| Kobe Bryant had 28 points and eight assists
to lead the Los Angeles Lakers over the Orlando Magic 102-87 Tuesday
night.(Xinhua Photo) |
Smush Parker added 17
points and seven assists for the Lakers (29-28), which took control of the game
with a third-quarter scoring burst.
Lamar Odom had eight points, 12 rebounds and five
assists as Los Angeles climbed back above the .500 mark. Chris Mihm and Brian
Cook had 12 points apiece in the Lakers' balanced attack, Kwame Brown had 11 and
Ronny Turiaf 10.
Grant Hill, obviously getting over the sports hernia
problem that's dogged him, led the Magic with 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting from
the floor. Dwight Howard had 15 points and nine rebounds for Orlando, which lost
for the ninth time in 10 games.
After a close first half, the Lakers took control
with a 22-4 run over a six-minute span of the third quarter.
Mihm's 19-foot jumper gave Los Angeles a 52-48 lead
and started the run. A steal by Parker that set up Odom's dunk over Howard gave
the Lakers a 62-50 advantage, then Bryant's 3-pointer at the 3:18 mark of the
quarter made it 72-52.
Parker had 10 points in the period to help Los
Angeles outscore Orlando 38-23. The Lakers were up 82-64 heading into the fourth
quarter.
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|
(Xinhua
Photo) |
The Magic closed to 94-85 with 4:11
remaining, but Bryant scored the Lakers' final 10 points to keep them
comfortably in front. He finished 11-of-20 from the field.
Bryant was relatively quiet in the first half, taking
only six shots, making three and scoring nine points. He did have five assists.
Mihm led the Lakers with 10 first-half points and they led 44-41 at the break.
Hill had 10 for Orlando, which shot 57 percent to Los
Angeles' 43 percent. But the Magic turned the ball over 12 times, to the Lakers'
three.
Orlando finished with 18 turnovers to 10 for Los
Angeles. The Lakers shot 51 percent to the Magic's 53 percent for the game.
Bryant made a pair of free throws with one second
left in the opening quarter to put Los Angeles up 24-22. He made all three of
his shots from the floor in the first period and had nine points.
(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)