Bryant's 52 points help Lakers edge Mavericks

NEW YORK: Kobe Bryant's late heroics lifted the Los Angeles Lakers to a 108-104 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday in the National Basketball Association.

Bryant scored 30 of his season-high 52 points during the final quarter and overtime, including scoring Los Angeles' final 14 points in regulation.

Spain's Pau Gasol added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won 11 of their last 12 games and 12 of 14 since acquiring Gasol from Memphis.

"To say one single thing did it, Kobe Bryant is probably the reason we didn't lose," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

"We want to send a message that we are for real, that we're going to compete and hopefully we'll need to be dealt with," said Bryant, who posted 50-plus points for the 22nd time in his career.

"He has these nights, lots of these," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.

Jason Kidd notched 15 points, 11 assists and six rebounds for Dallas. But he missed a potential game-tying free throw which could have sent the game to double overtime.

Kidd was fouled while making a layup by Gasol with 10 seconds left in the extra session, but his free throw bounced off the rim.

"I felt confident at the free-throw line, but I just left it short," Kidd said. "You can never leave it short if you want it to go in, so that falls on my shoulders. To tie the game, I have to be able to step up and make that free throw."

Dirk Nowitzki, who had 30 points, had a shot to tie but came up empty with two seconds left in overtime.

The Lakers, who saw their 10-game winning streak snapped on Friday in Portland, made their move late in the game.

After Lamar Odom missed on two free-throw attempts with six seconds to play in regulation, Bryant got the rebound and was fouled immediately, hitting both shots from the line to put the Lakers up 93-90.

Dallas called a timeout to advance the ball, and Nowitzki inbounded and got the ball back before hitting a 3-pointer with two seconds left to knot the score at 93-93.

The Lakers had one more opportunity, but the Mavericks stole the inbound pass to send the contest to overtime.

Streak continues

The Rockets stepped up to a meeting with the Denver Nuggets, and blew them out, overwhelming Denver 103-89 for their 15th consecutive victory, matching their franchise record while extending their Rockets record to six-consecutive double-digit wins taken by an average of 17.5 points per game.

"We're still a good team, man," Rockets guard Tracy McGrady said after the Rockets' 10th consecutive home win gave them their longest home winning streak since the 1993-94 season that produced the most recent previous 15-game run. "What more we got to show you all? We're a good team.

"We believe. We don't care about what anybody says about us outside this locker room. We as a group, we believe and we know how good we are and we're showing it. We're a focused group, a group that understands how to win ballgames, playing great defensively.

"What more do we got to do?"

They left little undone in what was supposed to be another test. Then the Rockets took the team expected to challenge their presumed-tenuous hold on a playoff spot, and ran them off their floor, building their lead on Denver to four games.

With that, they were looking the other direction. Just two weeks after they left the All-Star break in ninth place (with the tiebreaker), they moved past Dallas and into fifth (with the tiebreaker edge they hold on Phoenix.)

Three games into life without Yao Ming, they are closer to the Spurs and Lakers at the top of the standings, separated by just 2 1/2 games, than they are from the ninth-place Nuggets.

"We're having fun," said Shane Battier, who had his season high with Yao out, just as his previous season-high of 18 came with McGrady out. "We are playing together as a team and it's been fun."

Battier had 20 points while holding Carmelo Anthony to 7-of-17 shooting and seven points shy of his 26 points per game average. Luis Scola combined to make 14 of 26 shots for 27 points, with Scola getting a career-high 14 rebounds.

Agencies

(China Daily 03/04/2008 page24)