LOS ANGELES — Pau Gasol had 21
points and 19 rebounds to lead five players in double figures, and the
Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs 101-89 Monday night
without injured Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum.
Bryant missed his second consecutive game with a sore left ankle, while Bynum sat out with a bruised right hip.
In their absences, the Lakers used a
collective effort to win in their final home game before this weekend's
All-Star break. Ron Artest added 18 points, Lamar Odom 16 points and 10
rebounds, and Jordan Farmar and Derek Fisher had 13 each.
Manu Ginobili scored 21 points, Tony
Parker 20, Tim Duncan had 16 points and 15 rebounds and Antonio McDyess
12 rebounds for the Spurs, who have lost four in a row to the Lakers at
Staples Center.
Los Angeles again showed it could win
without Bryant. The Lakers snapped a five-year losing streak at
Portland with a victory Saturday, when Bryant ended his streak of 235
consecutive games played and Bynum missed the second half.
The Lakers extended their lead to
81-70 early in the fourth, equaling their largest lead to that point,
capped by Shannon Brown's 3-pointer.
Mostly though, the final period was a
messy affair, with the Spurs throwing the ball away on three occasions
and the Lakers stumbling through a cold stretch after their strong
start.
But they regrouped and ended the game on a 17-11 run after going 4 1/2 minutes without a field goal.
Los Angeles led 68-57 on a 14-4 run
in the third. Gasol scored seven in a row and Odom had three. But the
Spurs closed the quarter with an 11-5 spurt, capped by Ginobili's
3-pointer, to trail 73-68 going into the fourth.
Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic, Farmar
and Josh Powell started the second quarter for the Lakers along with
Gasol. The youngsters' energy paid off as the Lakers scored the first
seven points to take their first lead since early in the game.
The Lakers made 5 of 6 free throws to end the half ahead 50-47.
The Spurs raced to a 9-0 lead to
open the game before Artest sparked the Lakers' offense with
consecutive 3-pointers. Parker scored 12 of his 15 first-half points in
the opening quarter when he wasn't dishing off in traffic.
Notes
Lakers coach Phil Jackson
said before the game that Bryant wants to return at Utah on Wednesday.
… The Lakers tied the season series 1-1, having lost 105-85 at San
Antonio on Jan. 12. … The oft-injured Spurs were completely healthy.
… They fell to 10-11 on the road.