Kobe erupts for 65 to edge Blazers
(AP)Updated: 2007-03-17 13:44
LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant scored 24 of his 65 points in the fourth quarter and added nine more in overtime for the Los Angeles Lakers, who snapped a seven-game losing streak Friday night with a 116-111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
 Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, right, complains to an official after being charge with a technical foul, as Lamar Odom looks during the second quarter of an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers in Los Angeles on Friday, March 16, 2007. [AP]  |
It was the second highest-scoring game of Bryant's career and his third with 60 or more points - including an 81-point outing against Toronto on Jan. 22, 2006 at Staples Center. He also had 62 against Dallas on Dec. 20, 2005, at Los Angeles. The All-Star MVP has 15 games with 50 or more points, including four this season. The Lakers are 11-4 when he cracks the 50-point plateau.
Bryant shot 23-for-39 from the field and was 11-for-12 from the free throw line. He averaged 35 points in his previous six games against Portland, including a 50-point effort on April 14, 2006.
Bryant's point total was the highest ever against the Trail Blazers, one more than Rick Barry's previous record. He got the Lakers going in overtime with a pair of free throws and a 14-foot running jumper. His 3-point shot broke a 108-all tie with 44 seconds to go, and he capped the fourth-highest scoring game ever by a Laker with a pair of free throws with 17.1 seconds to go.
Portland's Travis Outlaw, who played less than 8 minutes in the first three quarters and had only one point, scored 10 points during a 3:34 span to help Portland grab an 83-79 lead with 5:53 to play.
Bryant, last season's NBA scoring champ, made eight shots from 18 feet or farther during his fourth-quarter surge to keep the Lakers close, including four from 3-point range. Two of them came 52 seconds apart, slicing Portland's lead to 96-95 with 49 seconds remaining. His last 3-pointer tied the score at 98-all with 17.2 seconds left.
Portland called a time out to set up a possible game-winning shot, but Zach Randolph missed an off-balance 3-pointer with Maurice Evans' hand in his face, forcing overtime.
Randolph led the Trail Blazers with 31 points.
Lamar Odom had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Los Angeles in his second game back in the lineup, after sitting out the previous five because of a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Ime Udoka had 19 points for the Blazers, who have lost five of their last six games and three straight. Portland was missing Raef LaFrentz, Darius Miles and Joel Pryzbilla, who left the Feb. 21 game against the Lakers with a sore left knee and underwent arthroscopic surgery on March 6.
The Blazers, who shot a season-best .597 from the field against the Lakers in a 112-108 victory on Feb. 21 at Staples Center, trailed 46-43 at halftime in the rematch despite a 15-0 run that gave them a nine-point lead in the first quarter. Bryant scored 23 points in the half and made the most spectacular basket of the game - although it didn't count.
The Lakers were trailing 31-27 when Bryant stripped the ball from Brandon Roy, who immediately fouled Bryant to prevent a breakaway. Bryant shot it anyway from about five feet behind the midcourt line - and it went in to the delight of the sellout crowd.
Bryant, who barely avoided his third one-game suspension of the season after smacking Philadelphia's Kyle Korver in the face on a dribble-drive last week, was called for a foul while jockeying with Randolph for position away from the ball with 3:21 left in the half and the Lakers ahead 36-34. Bryant argued with referee Sean Corbin and received a technical foul, which was converted by Randolph.
Notes:@ Saturday marks the 34th anniversary of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's only 50-point game in the NBA. Oddly enough, it happened against the Lakers, when he and the Milwaukee Bucks lost 123-107 at the Forum. ... The Lakers didn't get back to Los Angeles until about 6 a.m. local time following Thursday's game at Denver. Shortly after takeoff, their chartered plane had to go back to the airport because of limited cabin pressure. The change in planes delayed the team's return by about 4 hours.
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