Bryant leads Lakers past Raptors

[February 05, 2009]  TORONTO (AP) -- Kobe Bryant scored 36 points, Pau Gasol added 31 and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 115-107 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight victory and eighth in nine games.

Lamar Odom had 13 points, and Derek Fisher added 12 for the Lakers, set to play the Celtics on Thursday night in their first trip to Boston since losing the NBA finals.

Joey Graham had a career-high 24 points, and Jermaine O'Neal added 22 for Toronto. The Raptors have lost four straight. Andrea Bargnani scored 21 points, and Anthony Parker had 18 for the Raptors, 5-21 overall against the Lakers.

Toronto All-Star Chris Bosh left the game with 9:50 remaining in the fourth because of a sprained right knee. Bosh had 12 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes.

The Raptors also played without point guard Jose Calderon, who sat out with a sore right hamstring. It's the same injury that kept him out of 10 games in January and two in November. Parker moved over to point guard with Graham starting at shooting guard.

Los Angeles had never led by more than two and trailed 87-85 to begin the fourth, but took its first lead since the second quarter on Bryant's jumper with 6:27 left.

Toronto trailed by seven with just over a minute left, but Parker made a 3-pointer and Graham followed Bryant's miss with a layup to cut it to two, 107-105.

But Graham failed to convert the 3-point play, and Bryant responded with a jumper in the lane, then a pair of free throws, to push the lead to six.

Bryant set a Madison Square Garden record by scoring 61 points in a 126-117 victory over New York on Monday night. His career high of 81 came in a home victory over Toronto on Jan. 22, 2006, and he came in averaging 28 points in 21 career games against the Raptors.

The Raptors started brightly, leading 21-9 after Parker completed a four-point play after Odom's foul at 6:33. But the Lakers stormed back behind four 3-pointers, including three from Bryant, cutting it to 23-21 3 three minutes later. Bryant had 14 points in the opening quarter, but Toronto led 31-26 after one.

Bryant missed all five shots he took in the second, while O'Neal had 11, and Bosh eight to give Toronto a 63-58 lead at the half.

Notes: The Lakers are 6-6 when trailing after three quarters. ... Bosh passed 8,000 career points with a pair of free throws in the first. ... Lakers coach Phil Jackson said injured center Andrew Bynum (right knee) will concentrate on icing and resting his knee for the next two weeks, then spend another two weeks on conditioning drills before resuming basketball activities in about a month. ... Toronto forward Jason Kapono will attempt to defend his 3-point shooting title during All-Star weekend, seeking to join Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players to win three consecutive titles.

[Associated Press]

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