Lakers rout Spurs to seize top spot
LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Lakers took sole possession of first place in the Western Conference and moved closer to being the top playoff seed with a crushing 106-85 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant scored 20 points in three quarters of play to lead the Lakers, who grabbed a half-game lead over the idle New Orleans Hornets.
"It's all about momentum," Bryant said after the Lakers started the second half with a 10-2 run to break a 53-53 deadlock.
"We got some momentum in the second half with steals and made timely baskets."
Lamar Odom added 17 points and 14 rebounds and Pau Gasol had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Only two consecutive wins by the Houston Rockets coupled with a Lakers loss to the Sacramento Kings in their regular-seas on finale on Tuesday would stop Los Angeles from winning the conference title.
"It's still a responsibility on our part to finish this the right way," Lakers coach Phil Jackson told reporters. "Fortunately for us we got some rest, got some guys who had a little bit of time to recover before Tuesday night."
The Lakers have the tiebreaker edge over the Hornets should the two teams finish level in the regular season.
Houston would have the tiebreaker edge should it tie either the Lakers or the Hornets for the Western lead.
But the Rockets' top-seed hopes suffered a major blow when they coughed up a 111-94 road loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
The defeat dropped the Rockets, who have two games left in the regular season, a game and a half behind Los Angeles.
Denver, meanwhile, all but assured itself of the conference's eighth and final playoff spot.
In Seattle, rookie Kevin Durant scored twice in the final 45 seconds, and the SuperSonics beat the Dallas Mavericks 99-95 in what could be the team's last game in Seattle.
The team might be playing in Oklahoma City next season and is putting the finishing touches on the worst record in franchise history.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/15/2008 page24)
