Kobe Bryant won his much anticipated rematch with Gilbert Arenas, scoring 39 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers over the Washington Wizards 118-102 in the NBA on Saturday.
Bryant made 14 of 26 shots, was nine-of-10 from the free throw line and had six rebounds and six assists in 44 minutes for the Lakers. His highlights included a 360-degree dunk, but he mostly helped his team more with a steady performance that outshone the erratic Arenas.
Arenas went nine-for-29 from the field and finished with 37 points -- mainly because he was 16-for-17 from the free throw line.
DeShawn Stevenson added 17 points and Caron Butler had 15 for the Wizards, who are 0-2 since Antawn Jamison's injury.
Smush Parker scored 20 points, Lamar Odom had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Andrew Bynum finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers.
Bobcats 98, Warriors 90
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Ray-mond Felton scored eight of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and Gerald Wallace added 21 points and 16 rebounds to lead Charlotte over Golden State.
Felton, forced to play at shooting guard after Derek Anderson left with a sprained right ankle in the first quarter, shot 8-of-19 for the Bobcats, who won despite shooting 42 percent and getting outrebounded by seven.
Baron Davis had 21 points, Al Harrington added 17 and Andris Biedrins had 15 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for the Warriors.
Knicks 94, Magic 86
At Orlando, Florida, Eddy Curry bulled his way to 27 points, reserve Channing Frye added 18,and New York seized control early and held on to beat Orlando.
Stephon Marbury had 14 points and six assists for New York, which held Orlando to just 37.7 percent shooting.
Backup center Darko Milicic led the Magic with a career-high 19 points. Dwight Howard added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu had 13 points, but hit only four of 15 shots.
Jazz 108, Suns 105
At Phoenix, Mehmet Okur scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half, including a decisive 6m shot with 5.1 seconds remaining and Utah beat Phoenix.
Deron Williams also scored 28 and added 10 assists for the Jazz, who have handed Phoenix three of its 10 losses this season and have won four straight against the Suns overall.
Amare Stoudemire had 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Suns, who were without guard Raja Bell because of an inflamed right knee.
Heat 117, Bucks 98
At Milwaukee, Dwyane Wade capped his special weekend with 32 points and 11 assists and Jason Kapono added a career-high 28 points to lead the Heat past the Bucks.
Wade, who went 11-of-17 from the field, also extended his streak of consecutive games with at least 20 points to 14 as Miami won its third straight. Wade had his collegiate jersey retired on Saturday in a ceremony during the Providence-Marquette game.
Wade's performance trumped Mo Williams' career-best 38 points on 16-of-31 shooting that led five players in double figures for the Bucks, who have lost four in a row and 15 of the last 17.
Shaquille O'Neal, plagued by first-half foul trouble, quietly had 20 points in 20 minutes for Miami, which got two points from newcomer Eddie Jones.
Mavericks 94, Timberwolves 93
At Dallas, All-Star snub Josh Howard and Jason Terry both had 22 points and Dallas held on to win its 15th straight home game.
Kevin Garnett was in early foul trouble and didn't get his first rebound until midway through the third quarter. The former MVP went on to grab 12 rebounds to go with his 25 points. That still wasn't enough for Minnesota, which lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
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