Bryant scores 28 to lead Lakers over Mavs 109-82

[April 01, 2011]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kobe Bryant scored 28 points, Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 110-82 in a testy affair Thursday night in which five players were ejected.

In what was a possible preview of a second-round playoff matchup, this one had a postseason flair to it.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers' Matt Barnes and Steve Blake and the Mavericks' Jason Terry and Brendan Haywood were thrown out following a shoving match under the basket. Los Angeles' Shannon Brown was later ejected in a separate incident.

The late skirmish didn't take away from the Lakers' eighth straight win and 16th in 17 games since the All-Star break, helping them pull within 2 1/2 games of slumping San Antonio for the NBA's top overall record. Los Angeles (54-20) also tied Chicago for the second-best mark in the league.

Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, whose five-game winning streak ended.

The Lakers' recent run started with a 96-91 road win over Dallas on March 12. They entered Thursday's matchup just a half-game ahead of the Mavericks for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

Things turned ugly with 9:23 remaining when Terry delivered a two-handed shove to the back of Steve Blake as he drove to the hoop. Blake and Terry went toe-to-toe, exchanging words before Barnes intervened and pushed Terry.

Barnes was restrained by Mavericks assistant Terry Stotts in front of the Dallas bench. He attempted to walk toward the Lakers' bench and shook off Stotts' grasp, sending the coach flying into spectators sitting courtside.

Play was stopped for several moments as referees went to the replay monitors. Terry was hit with a flagrant-2 foul, sending seldom-used Lakers center Theo Ratliff to the line for a pair of free throws, which were both missed.

Pau Gasol had 20 points, and Lamar Odom finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the refreshed Lakers, who were playing their first game in four days since routing New Orleans 102-84 on Sunday in winning their 10th in a row at home.

Odom came alive late in the third quarter. The Lakers led 79-70 before Odom accounted for all the points in an 11-0 run. He hit a 3-pointer to close the third and added a pair of 3s and a layup to open the fourth for a 90-70 lead with 10:25 to go.

The Mavericks, who own the best road record in the NBA, fell to 3-1 on their current season-high, six-game road trip. They weren't able to complete the Los Angeles sweep a night after beating the Clippers in the same building.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.