The New Orleans Hornets’ NBA-record streak of 13 consecutive overtime victories ended on Friday as the Los Angeles Lakers won 115-111.
Kobe Bryant scored 11 of his 39 points in overtime as Los Angeles escaped with the win.
Spain’s Pau Gasol had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Lamar Odom added 12 points and 17 boards for the Lakers, who led by four at halftime before scoring 34 points in the third quarter.
Chris Paul added 21 points and 16 assists for the Hornets, who outscored the Lakers 32-19 in the fourth quarter.
New Orleans had taken a narrow lead before Derek Fisher’s 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining forced overtime.
In the extra session, the Lakers jumped out to a 106-100 lead with 1:22 remaining before a layup by Antonio Daniels — who replaced Paul after the point guard fouled out — and James Posey’s three-pointer pulled the Hornets within one point.
A 3-point play by Bryant pushed the lead back to four, but Rasual Butler followed with a 3-point play of his own.
Fisher hit two free throws on the other end to make it 111-108 and, after Posey missed a three, Bryant drained two foul shots to seal the victory.
The Lakers’ victory avenged a 116-105 loss to the Hornets last month that ended a 15-game home winning streak.
CAVALIERS 111, BUCKS 103
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, LeBron James scored 55 points, coming up just one shy of his career high and of scoring half his team’s points as Cleveland beat Milwaukee.
In an extraordinary flourish after halftime, James scored 16 points in the first 2 minutes, 50 seconds of the third quarter, almost single-handedly turning a six-point halftime deficit into an eight-point Cavaliers lead — and he could have scored two more if he hadn’t missed a pair of free throws along the way.
James outdid his previous season high of 52 points at New York earlier this month. His career high of 56 came at Toronto in 2005.
The Cavaliers moved back above Boston for the Eastern Conference’s best percentage record.
Milwaukee’s Charlie Villanueva was ejected after a heated on-court confrontation with Cleveland’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the fourth quarter. Villanueva had a team-high 26 points before his ejection.
TRAIL BLAZERS 108, HAWKS 98
In Portland, Oregon, the Trail Blazers recorded their seventh straight home win, overcoming Atlanta.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Trail Blazers while Brandon Roy had 27 to help Portland improve to 22-5 at home.
The Kings kept it close in the first half but fell behind midway through the second and trailed by as many as 16.
ROCKETS 93, MAVERICKS 86
In Houston, the hosts ended a run of four straight losses to their Texas rivals by beating Dallas.
Aaron Brooks scored 19 points, including a key 3-pointer with 24 seconds left, and also had eight assists for the Rockets. Brooks became Houston’s starting point guard when Rafer Alston was traded to Orlando on Thursday.
BULLS 116, NUGGETS 99
In Chicago, Ben Gordon scored a season-high 37 points to lead undermanned Chicago past Denver.
The Bulls have won successive games since trading four players to Sacramento on Thursday, and did so despite having only eight players available as a result.
Denver had its three-game winning streak stopped.
MAGIC 92, BOBCATS 80
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Orlando bounced back from their worst loss of the season to comfortably defeat Charlotte.
Hedo Turkoglu scored 24 points, while Rafer Alston had eight assists just hours after officially joining the Magic, providing a bright start to Orlando’s life without injured All-Star Jameer Nelson.
SUNS 140, THUNDER 118
In Phoenix, the home side became the first team for 18 years to get at least 140 points in three straight games, beating Oklahoma City.
It was the first time in Suns history they had achieved the mark and they succeeded the 1990-1991 Portland Trail Blazers as the last team to do so.
Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 41 points for Phoenix.
Barbosa moved into the starting lineup after Amare Stoudemire underwent surgery on Friday to repair a partially torn retina in his right eye.
KNICKS 127, RAPTORS 97
In New York, the hosts cruised past Toronto and matched their meager victory total of 23 games from last season.
Wilson Chandler scored his career-high 32 points and Nate Robinson added 26 for the Knicks, who piled on 42 points in the first quarter to put the game beyond doubt early.
KNICKS 127, RAPTORS 97
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Marquis Daniels filled in for injured All-Star Danny Granger, scoring 24 points to help Indiana over Minnesota.
In other games it was:
• Wizards 107, Nets 96
• Kings 115, Grizzlies 106
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