Kevin Garnett soars as Lakers' Pau Gasol struggles

Battle of the power forwards in Game 5 clearly goes to Boston, which also gets some Zen-like leadership from Garnett.Boston The man who likes to abuse his own bald head  either as a way to psych himself up or express simple frustration  was the one trying to ramp down the energy on Sunday.Boston’s Kevin Garnett certainly won’t ever become Mr. Zen, but Celtics Coach Doc Rivers found himself somewhat amused when the emotional Garnett went against type in the Celtics’ 92-86 victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden.

“That tells you how screwed up we are,” Rivers said. “Kevin Garnett is calming our team down. It’s funny now, but it was Kevin and Tony Allen in the huddle telling everyone to calm down. I jokingly told [assistant coach] Armond [Hill] this is a crazy basketball team.”Rivers thought it was Garnett’s best all-around game in this series against the Lakers. Not only did Garnett issue an emphatic double-double, scoring 18 points and adding 10 rebounds and two blocked shots, but he clearly got the best of the Lakers’ Pau Gasol in their key matchup.Though Gasol finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, going five for 12 from the field, he was close to a non-factor in the first half, scoring two points and only taking four shots.

“He’s been consistent for us for a while now, so he can afford to have a bad game every once and a while,” Kobe Bryant said of Gasol.Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said he would have to look at the tape to get a complete analysis of Gasol’s game, of whether the Spaniard was tentative.

“He didn’t have a lot of opportunities in the first half, and in the second half it looked like he broke away, went by Garnett, got to the front of the hoop, and he blocked it from behind,” Jackson said.”… I thought Garnett made a couple good defensive plays.”Gasol averaged 20.5 points the first four games of the series, which is why the vanishing act seemed so startling in Game 5.

“I’ve got to find ways to get better looks than I did tonight throughout the game,” he said. “And when I do, just be assertive and be aggressive and don’t be hesitant when I get the ball. Just attack.”That was Garnett’s mantra after a rough go in Los Angeles, most notably in Game 1. Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo talked about the big turnaround in Garnett’s game.

“I think a couple of guys maybe thought KG lost a step or something when he struggled in the first few games,” Rondo said. “But he’s caught his rhythm, doing intangibles on the court, scoring, rebounding, assisting, blocking shots. He’s changing the game.”That’s what he’s been doing for us all year. He’s big for us. He may not score 27 points, 26 points. But he’s happy with his role and he’s doing it well.”

Garnett recognized the moment of truth in the series. “The severity of this game is huge, man,” he said. “You don’t want to go back to L.A. with them having a chance to close it out and it being on their floor.

“Tonight, I thought for the most part I was active. I got my hands on a lot of loose balls. Some knucklehead plays in the fourth quarter I would like to take back.”But for the most part, I was talkative. I was loud. Just got to carry that over and be all out.”

Kobe Bryant signed a three-year extension to stay under contract through 2013-14 with the Lakers

Kobe Bryant signed a three-year extension to stay under contract through 2013-14 with the Lakers, the only team he has ever known in his NBA career. Bryant was already under contract this season and next season for a total of $47.8 million before the extension would kick into gear. Financial details of the extension were not immediately available.

Bryant, 31, will be eight weeks shy of his 36th birthday when his new extension reaches its end.”We are extremely pleased that we were able to reach an agreement and come to terms on the extension at this time,” Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement. “Kobe has been a cornerstone of the Lakers for well over a decade, helping to lead us to four NBA championships and in the process developing into one of the greatest players in basketball history.”

The 12-time All-Star and the Lakers had casually been negotiating the extension, though there had been some thought that Bryant would not sign because he hoped to keep his options open, among them the unlikely possibility that a new collective-bargaining agreement would be more favorable to high-salaried players if it got renegotiated in 2011.Bryant won his first regular-season MVP award in 2008 and his first NBA Finals MVP in 2009.

The Lakers signed forward-center Pau Gasol to a three-year, $57-million extension last December, a move that also kept him with the team through 2013-14.”Two of our main goals heading into this season were to sign Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol to contract extensions,” Kupchak said. “With the signing of Pau earlier this season and the signing of Kobe today, we were able to accomplish those goals, helping to keep the core of this team intact for the foreseeable future and in turn help to ensure the franchise’s continued success over the years to come.”

Nike Inc has extended its contract with basketball star LeBron James

Nike Inc has extended its contract with basketball star LeBron James, one of the sports gear giant’s top athletes.Nike provided no details of the contract, but said in a short statement on Wednesday that it was “proud to continue our partnership with him for years to come.”

“Nike’s relationship with LeBron has created innovative basketball products and captivating campaigns,” said Nike.James, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, had a seven-year contract with Nike that was due to expire soon, according to Cleveland newspaper The Plain Dealer. It said the new deal will keep the two together for at least the next seven years.James, who becomes a free agent in July, won the National Basketball Association’s Most Valuable Player award in 2009.(Reuters)

LOS ANGELES Kobe Bryant scored 24 points, hitting 14 of 15 free throws, and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away with a dominating third-quarter run for a 122-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers

LOS ANGELES Kobe Bryant scored 24 points, hitting 14 of 15 free throws, and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away with a dominating third-quarter run for a 122-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night.Andrew Bynum added 16 points and Pau Gasol had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the defending NBA champions, who fell behind early before improving to 14-0 against the Pacers at Staples Center.Jordan Farmar scored 19 points, including 10 in the fourth when he ran the offense while Bryant rested his myriad of injuries.The Lakers won their third in a row heading into a stretch of three road games in four days, capped by Sunday’s contest at Orlando.

Troy Murphy had 17 points and 13 rebounds, Dahntay Jones scored 16 points, Josh McRoberts had 15 and Earl Watson finished with 10 assists for the Pacers. They dropped to 7-24 on the road and have lost eight of their last 10 overall.

Bryant nearly matched his career average of 24.9 points against Indiana, though most of his offense came at the line. He was just 5 of 14 from the field, missing all four of his 3-point attempts.Bryant hit a 21-foot fadeaway to beat the halftime buzzer, keeping Los Angeles ahead 60-54.That momentum carried into the third, when the Pacers closed to 62-61 before the Lakers took over. They went on a 35-10 run that produced a 98-71 lead heading into the fourth.Derek Fisher’s 3-pointer gave the Lakers the game’s first double-digit lead, 75-65. Ron Artest and Lamar Odom hit consecutive 3-pointers, then Shannon Brown made two straight 3s before Farmar capped the burst with a fast-break slam dunk.

The Pacers dissolved in a series of miscues, with their seven turnovers leading to 10 points. Bynum and Brown came up with big blocked shots, too. Indiana’s offense broke down, with the Pacers making 7-of-20 shots in the quarter.Fans began pouring out of Staples with nearly 6 minutes remaining. During a timeout, Odom and Gasol gazed at the overhead scoreboard checking out other NBA scores. Bryant spent the rest of the game on the bench along with the other starters.After trailing most of the opening quarter, the Lakers got a boost from Brown, Farmar and Adam Morrison in the second. Their early scoring put the Lakers back in front, and Gasol and Bryant kept them there with eight points apiece.Still, the Pacers were better at the line and from 3-point range in the first half, with Murphy already exceeding his scoring average by the break.

NOTES: The Pacers haven’t beaten the Lakers in Los Angeles since Feb. 14, 1999, when the Lakers still played at the Forum. … The Lakers’ 14-0 mark at Staples includes three playoff wins against Indiana Los Angeles reached 100 points for the first time since defeating Golden State 104-94 on Feb. 16.(AP)

Golden State Warriors vs Atlanta Hawks 108-104 on Sunday night

OAKLAND, Calif. Stephen Curry scored 32 points and made the go-ahead free throw in the final minute after a technical foul on Jamal Crawford to help the Golden State Warriors rally from an 18-point deficit and beat the Atlanta Hawks 108-104 on Sunday night.Playing with only eight healthy players, the Warriors scored 16 straight points in the fourth quarter to erase the big deficit and went on to win their first game against a team, with a winning record since beating Boston on Dec. 28. Golden State had lost 11 of 13, with the only wins being blowouts at home against struggling Sacramento and the Los Angeles Clippers.

After losing their big lead, the Hawks lost their cool in the final minute. Leading by two points, Joe Johnson turned the ball over and Monta Ellis went in for a breakaway layup that tied the game at 104 with 1 minute left.After Al Horford missed a jumper, C.J. Watson lost the rebound out of bounds for Golden State. But Crawford was called for a technical, giving Golden State the lead on Curry’s free throw.

Crawford then missed a 3-pointer from the corner with 15 seconds remaining and Ellis hit two free throws to make it 107-104. Josh Smith missed another 3 with 5 seconds to go and Chris Hunter made one of two free throws for the final margin.Johnson led Atlanta with 31 points, Horford added 26 and Smith had 14 points and 17 rebounds. The Hawks have lost three of four.Ellis finished with 26 points for Golden State, but was on the bench for the bulk of the Warriors comeback early in the fourth quarter.

Golden State cut the 18-point lead down to five on two free throws by Curry midway through the period. Curry followed with a 3-pointer and C.J. Watson’s layup tied the game at 95. Curry capped the 16-0 run with a driving layup to give the Warriors a two-point lead with just over 5 minutes remaining.

Ellis gave the Warriors a 102-101 lead when he made one of two free throws, but Johnson answered with a 28-footer as the shot clock ran down to make it 104-102 with 2:22 to go. Atlanta did not score again.The loss was especially tough on Crawford, who had his differences with Golden State coach Don Nelson last season before being dealt to Atlanta. Crawford scored 17 points, topping the 10,000-point mark in his career, but didn’t come through down the stretch.The game was tight for the first half with neither team taking a lead bigger than five points. Atlanta led 52-51 at halftime before breaking the game open in the third quarter.

Horford scored nine points during a 14-2 run that helped Atlanta take a 74-59 lead just past the midpoint of the quarter. Smith added back-to-back dunks, including an emphatic left-hander on a breakaway following a bad pass by Ellis that made it 86-68 late in the third.

NOTES: Warriors F Corey Maggette missed the game with a strained left hamstring. He went to Los Angeles to have the injury examined. … Golden State F Ronny Turiaf missed the game with flulike symptoms. … Ellis topped the 5,000 career point mark as well. …Hawks G Mike Bibby was 1-for-6 from the field and is 3-for-18 over his last three games.(AP)

Los Angeles Lakers vs Sacramento Kings 109-108

LOS ANGELES With apologies to Jerry West, the Lakers’ modern-day “Mr. Clutch” did it again.Kobe Bryant hit yet another buzzer-beating 3-pointer and finished with 39 points as the defending NBA champions overcame a 20-point deficit to beat the Sacramento Kings 109-108 on Friday night. The last time the Lakers won a game in which they trailed by 20 or more points was Dec. 12, 2006, when they erased a 21-point deficit in a 112-101 double-overtime win against Houston at Los Angeles.”It looked like they went into a zone coverage on the inbounds pass, and that side was wide open,” said Bryant, averaging 35.7 points in his last 10 games.”It was just a matter of me getting to that spot with enough time to get a shot off. Phil drew up a play for a 3. He wanted me to get a good look and knock it down. I think he wanted to get out of here.”

Lamar Odom had a season-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the NBA-leading Lakers (26-6). Pau Gasol had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four assists – one of which set up Bryant’s clutch basket from in front of the Sacramento bench.”Kobe’s shooting the ball at a high percentage,” Gasol said. “But he’s not always going to shot like that. We understand that, and I think he understands that, too. But when he’s feeling it and the shots are going down, he’s going to keep shooting.”Spencer Hawes had a career-high 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Kings, Omri Casspi scored 23 points, and Beno Udrih added 19 points and 13 assists.

“I am so proud of our team – but at the same time, it’s disappointing,” Sacramento coach Paul Westphal said. “We’ve played well enough to beat those guys twice, but they have a knack at the end of games. We got everything we needed, performance-wise, from everybody that played, and we couldn’t close it out. That’s one of the things that makes the Lakers so good. Kobe is an unbelievable player, no question about it.”One night after scoring a season-high 44 points and getting a season-best 11 assists, Bryant added another chapter to his Hall of Fame resume. This miracle shot came exactly four weeks after his off-balance 3-point buzzer-beating bank shot that pulled out a win over the Miami Heat at Staples Center. On Dec. 16 at Milwaukee, Bryant hit a 15-footer as time expired in overtime to give the Lakers a 107-106 win.

“These players – I don’t know how they get themselves into those positions, but they do an unbelievable job of hitting shots that are remarkable shots, marvelous shots,” coach Phil Jackson said. “He’s right there with Michael in that kind of breath you look at.”The Lakers came out as flat as half-empty champagne bottles left over from New Year’s Eve, shooting 37 percent from the field in the first half and trailing 64-49 at intermission. Derek Fisher was the biggest offender, missing nine of 10 shots in the half while the Kings had the highest-scoring half by a Lakers opponent this season.

Fisher, who had six points, played 9 minutes in the third quarter without taking a shot, then sat out the entire fourth quarter.The sellout crowd let the Lakers feel their pain, booing them loudly after Jon Brockman’s layup gave Sacramento a 38-23 lead with 9:12 left in the second quarter. The Kings built the lead to 20 at 52-32 with a 3-pointer by Ime Udoka that capped a 26-9 run with 5:06 left in the half.

“I think we kind of took the pedal off,” Hawes said. “We knew they were going to make a run. It was inevitable. We knew that we couldn’t sit up by 20 points the whole game. And they chipped away and chipped away to put themselves in a position to win it at the end. That’s why he’s Kobe. He makes big shots at big times.”In their previous game, Tuesday night at Staples Center, the Lakers fell behind by 15 points to Golden State and gave up 60 points in the first half before pulling out a 124-118 win.

NOTES: According to Jackson, it looks as though Ron Artest will be back playing by early next week, following the fall at his home on Christmas night that caused a concussion, a deep cut on his left elbow and a slight loss of memory. “He’s improved significantly in the last two days, and optimistic that he’ll be able to practice soon – probably not a full-out practice with contact tomorrow, but will have non-contact activity with the team,” Jackson said. “There’s a number of checks they go through with concussions, like speech patterns. But with Ron, that doesn’t work.” … This was only the third time in the last 36 years that the Lakers played on New Year’s Day. Their overall record on Jan. 1 is 9-6. … It was the first time the Kings played on New Year’s Day since the vagabond franchise moved from Kansas City to Sacramento in 1985-86. They are 11-9 overall on this date (0-3 in K.C., 4-4 in Cincinnati and 7-1 in Rochester). … With 24,800 career points, Bryant is 16 points away from overtaking Patrick Ewing for 15th place.(AP)

Chicago Bulls vs Sacramento 98-87

Derrick Rose (1)

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – When the Chicago Bulls won in Sacramento on Nov. 14, they were hoping they’d get their next road victory before Thanksgiving. Instead, it took until New Year’s Eve. “I wasn’t thinking about the streak – I just wanted to get a win,” Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. “This was just a nice, solid win for us.” Derrick Rose scored 22 points, and Joakim Noah added 15 points and 21 rebounds to help the Bulls end a six-week road drought with a 98-87 victory over Detroit. “This feels good,” Noah said after Chicago won its third in a row overall. “I think we are just playing better basketball right now for whatever reason.” Rose finished with a point more than Ben Gordon, who joined Detroit from Chicago this summer. “Ben’s role is to score the ball, and I’m playing point guard, so no one said anything about this being me against him,” Rose said. “I’ll do whatever it takes for us to win, and today that took being aggressive.”

Chicago had lost eight straight on the road, but never trailed while handing Detroit its ninth straight loss. The Pistons (11-21) are 10 games under .500 for the first time since the 2000-01 season, but coach John Kuester was still encouraged. “I saw a number of positive things out there,” he said. “I’m sure people are going to hear that and say, ‘You must be kidding,’ but we did some good things. We lost Rip (Hamilton), Tayshaun (Prince) and Ben Gordon for extended periods of time, and there’s no chance that they were going to come right back in midseason form.” Tyrus Thomas added 19 points for Chicago (13-17), and John Salmons had 17.

Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 22 points despite leaving the game twice in the first half after spraining his left ankle. “The first time Stuck went down, I was really concerned, because the way he fell, I thought this was going to be another long-term injury for us,” Kuester said. “He not only went back in, he hurt it again and he still came back. No one would have blinked if he had taken the rest of the day off, so he earned our admiration.” Stuckey acknowledged playing through severe pain in the second half. “It hurt a lot – it always does when you sprain your ankle – and then it just gave out on me the second time,” he said. “I was going to play though it if I could even walk, though, because we need to get something going. There’s no way this group of players should only be scoring 87 points.” The Bulls led 44-39 after a sloppy first half that saw the teams combine for 22 turnovers. Detroit got to 46-44 in the third quarter, but Chicago led 69-56 at the end of the period. The Bulls led by 20 as the Palace emptied during the fourth quarter.

NOTES: Charlie Villanueva, who had stopped wearing the mask protecting his broken nose, put it back on for the second half, but only wore it for a few possessions. … Detroit has not led in the second half of any of its last six games. Their only lead in the last two games – at home against the struggling Knicks and Bulls – was 2-0 against New York. … Thomas had 10 points in the first three quarters without making a field goal. He was 0-for-2 from the floor and 10-for-12 from the line.

Houston Rockets vs Dallas Mavericks 97-94

Luis Scola and Erick Dampier fight for a rebound

HOUSTON – Aaron Brooks felt in a groove, and that was all the Houston Rockets needed to pull out another close victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Brooks scored 30 points, Shane Battier made a tiebreaking three-pointer with 2:11 left, and Rockets beat the Mavericks 97-94 on Thursday night. “I wanted to extend the defence a little bit and open up Carl (Landry) on the inside a little bit,” Brooks said. “I feel we did a great job doing that. I’m going to go out there and play hard and shoot when I’m open and whatever happens after that, I’m going to roll with it.” Brooks followed Battier’s three with one of his own for a six-point lead with 1:35 remaining, and the Rockets held on when Jason Kidd missed a potential tying shot from behind the arc in the final second. “I got a great look,” Kidd said. “I might have rushed it a second. I would love to have that shot again. Give Houston credit. They won the game. The zone helped us in the second half to get back in the game. We had an opportunity.” The Rockets led through most of the first half and went up 66-52 in the third quarter, aided by six quick points by Brooks. But the Mavericks scrambled back into the game and tied it at 89 with 4:52 to play. Jason Terry led a strong bench performance by Dallas with 20 points. Josh Howard had 16 points and Drew Gooden added 10 points off the bench. Shawn Marion had 16 points and Kidd scored 14 for the Mavs, but Dirk Nowitzki sat out much of the first half with three fouls, and finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Landry added 15 points for the Rockets. “We’ve struggled with Dallas early in the season,” Houston forward Luis Scola said. “We finally could win the last two games so we finished the year on a great note and we’re happy with it.” Houston led 56-47 at the half and Brooks took charge with 13 points in the third quarter to keep the Rockets rolling to a 78-70 lead after three quarters.

The Rockets beat the Mavericks 116-108 in overtime in their last meeting on Dec. 18. There were seven technical fouls called in the game and the Mavericks protested to the NBA that the final 61 seconds should be replayed, believing a “misapplication of the rules” led to the ejection of Dallas centre Erick Dampier in the extra period. This time, there were two technicals.

“We’re rivals and have been since I’ve been in Dallas,” Terry said. “It’s been tough all season and it’s an early end to our matchup during the regular season. Good luck to them and maybe we’ll see them in the playoffs. They always play hard.” The Rockets led by 10 points late in the first quarter, but the Mavericks fought back and took their only lead of the second period, 38-37 on a 16-foot jumper by Terry. Kyle Lowry followed quickly with a three-point basket and the Rockets held on to their lead at the half.

Howard had 11 second-quarter points to keep Dallas close. The Mavericks started cold and the Rockets broke from a 7-7 tie to a 24-17 lead. Scola broke the tie with two straight baskets and the Rockets took advantage of early foul trouble by Nowitzki, who drew his second foul at 6:31 and sat out the rest of the first period. He got his third late in the second quarter. “Our undoing was a sluggish first quarter,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Houston hit us with early transition points and threes. The rest of the game was about even. With a team like this you have to come out with energy early or you are in trouble.”

Notes: Rockets rookie guard Chase Budinger is still recovering from a sprained ankle Dec. 19 and sat out Thursday’s game and likely will miss Saturday’s at New Orleans. Nowitzki has 10 double-doubles this season. Terry is the Mavericks’ No. 7 career scorer with 6,152 points.

Philadelphia 76ers vs Portland Trail Blazers 104-93

Lou Williams vs Martell Webster

PORTLAND, Ore.  Elton Brand had a season-high 25 points and nine rebounds in a reserve role, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 104-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.Brand, a 6-foot-9 former All Star, made 9 of 20 shots in 30 minutes to help Philadelphia (8-22) rally from a 10-point second half deficit.Allen Iverson, who missed the past four games with a knee injury, returned to the lineup as a starter and scored 19 points. Andre Iguodala, Samuel Dalembert and Marreese Speights scored 14 points each for the Sixers. Iguodala also had seven rebounds and nine assists.Brandon Roy led Portland (20-13) with 24 points, while LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Portland, which had won four consecutive games, all against teams with winning records, shot just 42.2 percent (35 of 83) against Philadelphia. The Sixers shot 57.7 percent from the field, hitting 45 of 78 shots.Portland controlled the second quarter to take a 49-43 halftime lead. The key stretch came midway through the quarter when, with the game tied 36-all, Roy and Dante Cunningham combined to score nine unanswered points to give the Blazers a 45-36 lead.

Portland stretched its lead to 61-51 midway during the third quarter before Philadelphia made its move. The Sixers went on a 13-4 run, then capped the quarter when Royal Ivey hit a buzzer-beating 22-footer to give Philadelphia a 77-73 lead heading into the fourth quarter.The Sixers continued their surge into the final period, outscoring Portland 40-17 over a 13-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 91-78 lead with 6:05 left in the game.

NOTES: Philadelphia has won three straight and five of six over the Blazers. Iverson, acquired by Philadelphia on Dec. 5, is averaging 16.1 points in six games with the Sixers. Since Nov. 11, Philadelphia is 4-18. Roy has scored at least 23 points in 13 consecutive games. It is the longest active streak of 20-point plus games in the NBA. Portland shot just 5 of 15 from 3-point range against Philadelphia after hitting 16 of 32 3-pointer its past two games.

Los Angeles Lakers vs Warriors 124-118

Kobe Bryant (24) vs Stephen Curry (30)

LOS ANGELES Kobe Bryant had a season-high 44 points and 11 assists while making all 16 of his free throws, and the Lakers survived Golden State’s 55-percent shooting for avictory over the Warriors on Tuesday night.Pau Gasol had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the defending NBA champions, who relied even more heavily than usual on Bryant to avoid their third loss in four games over the past five days.Bryant came through with 17 points in the fourth quarter, clinching his seventh 40-point game of the season on two free throws with 4:04 left. He has 103 40-point games in his career, third-most in NBA history.Corey Maggette scored 25 points and Monta Ellis added 22 for the Warriors, who beat Phoenix and Boston in the previous three days during the best stretch of another rough start to a season.Golden State shot superbly and ran its uptempo offense well, but had nobody who could guard Bryant in the Warriors’ seventh straight loss to the Lakers. The Warriors haven’t won three straight games yet this season.

The Lakers still have the NBA’s best record (25-6) despite two 15-point losses in the previous three days, including their 102-87 Christmas flop against Cleveland. They also played their third straight game without starting forward Ron Artest, who gave himself a concussion and a deep cut on his left elbow when he tripped and fell at his home on Christmas.In their first home game since their fans littered the court with foam hands in response to the Lakers’ gripes about the officiating, Bryant and Lamar Odom both got technical fouls for arguing calls in the final 4:16. Los Angeles’ complaining helped the Warriors keep within three points down the stretch until Bryant followed up Ronny Turiaf’s two missed free throws with two foul shots of his own with 1:05 to play.

C.J. Watson scored 14 points while hitting four 3-pointers for the Warriors, who went 14 for 22 in the first quarter while opening with a clear burst of energy, perhaps still rolling from their impressive 103-99 win over the Celtics.

Pushing the tempo and finding Maggette for open shots, the Warriors scored 29 points the first 8:03 to take an 11-point lead that grew to 15 in the second quarter. Los Angeles rallied after halftime and took the lead midway through the period, but the Warriors hung around with scoring from Maggette and Ellis, whose layup in traffic evened it at 104 with 5:24 to play.

NOTES: Warriors C Andris Biedrins, who returned Monday from a lengthy absence with an injured groin, had six points and eight rebounds before fouling out. … Artest plans to run on a treadmill Wednesday to see how his body responds, saying he might try to play Friday against Sacramento. … Vladimir Radmanovic scored 11 points for the Warriors. Los Angeles traded him to Charlotte last season in a deal netting Shannon Brown and Adam Morrison from the Bobcats. Brown threw down a one-handed dunk in Radmanovic’s face in the final minute of the first half. … Courtside fans included John McEnroe, Mario Lopez and Nicole Richie. Her longtime partner, rocker Joel Madden, wore a T-shirt reading “RIP The Rev” to honor Avenged Sevenfold drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, who was found dead in Huntington Beach on Monday.