Kobe Bryant scored 33 points to propel the Los Angeles Lakers to their eighth successive win over the Denver Nuggets in a 104-97 road victory yesterday.
The unbeaten Lakers (3-0) led by only two points with four minutes remaining when Bryant grabbed a rebound and scored to start a seven-point spurt by the Pacific Division leaders.
Another rebound and lay-up by Bryant gave Los Angeles a 100-91 advantage that effectively ended Denver’s resistance. Bryant’s 33 points were a game high.
A poor scoring performance from Carmelo Anthony hobbled the Nuggets (1-2).
The Denver forward, suspended for the Nuggets’ first two games, had just two points through three quarters. He scored 11 in the final quarter to finish with 13, but still 11 below his career average.
Anthony had the Nuggets within two points at 93-91 on a three-pointer with 4:05 to play but he did not score again until a minute to go and Denver down 100-91.
Anthony Carter led the Nuggets, playing their first home game of the season, with 20 points. Kenyon Martin added 18 before straining his left hamstring in the second half.
Pau Gasol added 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers.
“I think we made it a little too hard on ourselves by not playing most of the game,”
Gasol told reporters. “But we pulled it out, showed some character and got a nice win.”
In New Orleans, Chris Paul had 24 points and 15 assists, and the New Orleans Hornets remained perfect on the young season with a 104-92 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers yesterday.
David West added 25 points and James Posey scored 15 to go with his trademark clutch late-game defense.
Posey stole the ball from LeBron James and drove in for a breakaway dunk in the fourth quarter, then hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock wound down to put the Hornets (3-0) up 96-85 inside the final three minutes.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas led Cleveland with 18 points, while James finished with 15 points and 13 assists.
During pregame introductions, the locally popular Rebirth Brass Band played and cheerleaders bopped around the court waving handkerchiefs as if in a second-line parade, while an overflow crowd of 18,150 for the Hornets’ home opener showered the team with cheers and chanted “M-V-P!” for Paul.
Starters Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojakovic waved to the crowd wearing street clothes, however. Both were out with right ankle sprains, and Hornets coach Byron Scott started center Hilton Armstrong and forward Rasual Butler in their places.
That lineup did just fine. Butler scored 14 points, draining three 3-pointers. Armstrong and his backup, Melvin Ely, combined for 14 points and nine rebounds, with Armstrong scoring eight of those points and throwing down several dunks set up by Paul’s brilliance on the drive-and-dish.
Cleveland led 83-81 in the fourth quarter, but Paul tied the game with a jumper, then set up Butler for a 3 from the corner to put the Hornets ahead 86-83 with 5:25 to go.
Cleveland called timeout, but it only delayed the Hornets’ decisive surge. Posey stole the ball from James on the Cavs’ next possession for his breakaway dunk, which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
James then turned the ball over again when he was called for traveling, and the Hornets kept pulling away as Paul found West for an open jumper.
Paul’s free throws capped a 12-0 run, and Cleveland did not threaten again.
Daniel Gibson scored 14 points for Cleveland, while Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West each added 12.
James had a quiet first half, scoring only six points, but alertly followed his missed jumper for an easy layup that gave Cleveland a 27-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Hornets quickly closed the gap with a 13-5 run to open the second quarter. Posey hit two 3-pointers during the surge, the second tying the game at 32.
West’s pair of inside scores powered an 8-2 run that put New Orleans up 40-36, but Delonte West pulled Cleveland back to 42-41 soon after with his third 3 of the opening half.
Gibson’s 3 gave the Cavs a brief lead, but the Hornets took a 49-48 lead into halftime after Paul set up David West’s 20-foot jump shot with just under 30 seconds left in the quarter.
Meanwhile, Amare Stoudemire scored 16 of his 23 points in the decisive third quarter and Phoenix beat the Portland Trail Blazers 107-96 yesterday to give Terry Porter his first home victory as Suns coach.
All five Phoenix starters reached double figures as the Suns beat Portland for the 10th straight time, their longest active streak against any opponent. It’s also the Blazers’ longest current losing streak against any team.
Steve Nash had 20 points, including a 3-pointer that put Phoenix ahead 101-90 with 1:48 left.
Matt Barnes scored 21, Shaquille O’Neal 16 and Raja Bell 13 for the Suns, who shot 55 percent. Nash also had seven assists.
Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez scored 20 apiece for Portland. Roy, hounded by Bell all night, was 7-of-18 shooting. LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 for the Trail Blazers, coming off a 100-99 home victory over San Antonio on Friday night.
After going 1-for-5 and scoring five points in the first half, Stoudemire was 6-for-6 in the third quarter to help Phoenix take control.
The Suns put together a 16-3 run to take a 69-61 lead on Barnes’ fast-break layup with just under 5 minutes left in the third. Stoudemire scored the first four and last four points of the period and Phoenix led 80-72 entering the fourth.
The Trail Blazers never got closer than seven in the final period. Stoudemire’s emphatic dunk put Phoenix up 98-87 with 2:25 to play.
The Suns made four 3-pointers, two by Barnes, in the first 7:07 of the game to go up 22-11, and the lead reached 27-15 on Barnes’ fast-break basket with 3:13 left in the first quarter. But the Trail Blazers’ reserves dominated their Phoenix counterparts in a 28-8 outburst that put Portland ahead 43-35 on Travis Outlaw’s driving lay-up with 5:56 left in the half.
Roy’s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds to play gave Portland a 50-49 halftime lead.
