Kobe Bryant scored 19 points before sitting out the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles Lakers cruised to a 107-89 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA on Tuesday.
The Lakers led from start to finish for the ninth time this season and closed within one game of idle Cleveland for the best record in the NBA.
Lamar Odom scored 18 points before fouling out and Pau Gasol had 14 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles. All of the Lakers starters spent the final eight minutes on the bench, getting some needed rest two games into a seven-game road trip.
PHOTO: AP
Kevin Durant scored 24 points to lead Oklahoma City, which had all five starters reach double figures.
BULLS 99, PISTONS 91
At Chicago, Kirk Hinrich scored 24 points filling in for the injured Derrick Rose as Chicago pulled within a game of the seventh-place Detroit in the Eastern Conference.
PHOTO: EPA
Tyrus Thomas had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Joakim Noah scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Bulls earned their fifth win in six games.
Tayshaun Prince and Will Bynum scored 20 each for the Pistons, who clearly miss injured stars Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton. Bynum also had nine assists while Antonio McDyess scored 16 for Detroit, which lost five of six.
SPURS 107, WARRIORS 106
At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 30 points as San Antonio edged Golden State.
Roger Mason scored 24 and sank the go-ahead jumper with 23.8 seconds left as the Spurs dodged a rare three-game skid after last-minute losses against Boston and Houston last week.
Monta Ellis had two chances to win it for Golden State but missed a jumper with 5.9 seconds left, then watched his running 3-pointer as time expired clank off the front of the rim.
Ellis led the Warriors with 27 points and Stephen Jackson had 18.
JAZZ 99, ROCKETS 86
At Salt Lake City, Ronnie Brewer scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half as Utah ended Houston’s four-game winning streak.
The Jazz pulled within one-half game of Denver for the Northwest Division lead and knocked the Rockets back to second in the Southwest.
Deron Williams had 19 points and 12 assists for the Jazz, who blocked a season-high 12 shots to help compensate for a poor night on the boards, getting outrebounded 52-42.
Aaron Brooks scored 20 points and Chinese star Yao Ming added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets.
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GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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