Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and Lamar Odom had 18 points and 10 rebounds in his season debut on Friday night to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 107-93 victory over the winless Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers were well-balanced. Andrew Bynum and Chris Mihm each had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Derek Fisher had 11 points and nine assists and Ronny Turiaf scored 11 points. Bryant chipped in with seven assists.
Al Jefferson had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who are off to an 0-4 start. Ryan Gomes added 17 points and Sebastian Telfair scored 15.
PHOTO: AP
Cavaliers 93, Kings 91
At Sacramento, LeBron James rallied the Cavaliers with eight points in the final 2 minutes, 57 seconds and the Cavaliers hung on.
Devin Brown had 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who treaded dangerously close to a surprising upset loss until James scored eight of their final 10 points in the fourth stop of Cleveland's six-game road trip.
Kevin Martin missed a long jumper at the buzzer. Martin, who had 32 points while making 17 free throws for the Kings, couldn't draw a foul 2 seconds earlier despite obvious contact from Cleveland's Drew Gooden.
John Salmons and Francisco Garcia each scored 18 points for the 1-4 Kings.
Rockets 104, Bucks 88
At Houston, Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian each had their share of highlights in the much-anticipated first matchup of the country's greatest player and its top rising star, and Yao's Houston Rockets beat Yi's Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.
Yao had 28 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Yi had 19 points and nine rebounds.
The game was an enormous event in China, where it started early yesterday morning. It was being broadcast on 19 television networks and NBA officials were expecting the largest-ever viewing audience for a game, well over 200 million.
As a bonus, those watching also got to see plenty of Tracy McGrady, who had 21 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and Michael Redd, who had 26 points for Milwaukee.
Jazz 103, SuperSonics 101
At Seattle, Utah's Andrei Kirilenko held Kevin Durant to 7-for-21 shooting and blocked Durant's attempt at a game-tying shot in the lane with three seconds remaining.
Seattle tied a team record with its sixth consecutive loss to begin the season.
Carlos Boozer scored the go-ahead basket over Durant with 17.6 seconds left and finished with 27 points -- 22 in the second half. Boozer also had 15 rebounds for his sixth double-double in six games for Utah, which won for the third time in four games and now heads home to face Memphis and Sacramento.
Trail Blazers 110, Grizzlies 98
At Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and Brandon Roy had 22 points and eight assists.
Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies with 31 points. Pau Gasol had all of his 19 in the first half.
Jarrett Jack had 17 of his 22 points in the second half for Portland, which has won two in a row at home after an 0-3 road trip to open the season.
Suns 106, Heat 101
At Miami, Steve Nash scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter and finished with 30 to go with eight assists, and the Phoenix Suns added to Miami's season-opening misery by rallying past the Heat 106-101 in the NBA on Friday.
Leandro Barbosa finished with 17 points, Raja Bell scored 16 and Shawn Marion added 17 points and 24 rebounds for Phoenix, which shot 15-for-33 from three-point range.
Shaquille O'Neal had season-highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, which led by as many as 12 points before falling to 0-5. The Heat had a chance to tie with 9 seconds left, but Ricky Davis' three-pointer bounced off the rim.
Davis and Jason Williams each had 21 points, Williams added 10 assists, and Udonis Haslem finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat.
Spurs 97, Hornets 85
At New Orleans, Tony Parker scored early, often and from all over the court, finishing with 27 points for San Antonio.
Tim Duncan had 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Manu Ginobili scored 14 and fellow Argentinean Fabricio Oberto added 13 points to help the Spurs maintain a double-digit lead through most of the second half.
Parker, who also finished with eight assists, scored 11 of San Antonio's first 21 points, hitting on everything from a driving double-pump scoop in the lane to an open three-pointer from the corner.
Chris Paul scored 18 to lead New Orleans, which had lost two straight after winning its first four.
Celtics 106, Hawks 83
At Boston, Kevin Garnett had 27 points and 19 rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 23 and Boston got its third blowout win of a season that is the Celtics' best start in 20 years.
Their 4-0 record is their best opening since 1987-1988 when they won their first six games, finished with 52 wins and went on to the Eastern Conference finals, the last time the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish got there.
Magic 112, Knicks 102
At New York, Dwight Howard had 22 points and 20 rebounds, Jameer Nelson added 24 points and 10 assists, as the Orlando Magic completed a perfect four-game road trip.
Friday's other NBA results:
* Nuggets 118, Wizards 92
* Raptors 105, 76ers 103
* Bobcats 96, Pacers 87
* Pistons 103, Clippers 79
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