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.

Charlotte Bobcats vs Denver Nuggets 107-95

Stephen Jackson

Charlotte got more than just a scorer with the arrival of Stephen Jackson last month.The Bobcats’ newest addition showed off his varied skill set Tuesday as his new team picked up a 107-95 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Jackson tallied team-highs with 25 points and six assists as the Bobcats picked up their sixth win in the last eight games. However, it was Jackson’s contributions on defense that had him talking after the victory.

“I want be to be able to make plays for guys, get my shots and at the same time guard their best player,” Jackson said. “Anytime there is a great scorer out there and I can guard him it gets my game going. It gets my level up and I’m always up to that challenge.”

Jackson grabbed seven defensive rebounds and had three steals while also being tasked with guarding the league’s leading scorer in Carmelo Anthony. The Denver All-Star scored a game-high 34 points, but was limited in transition and in his ability to get his teammates involved.

“You have to make a guy like (Anthony) work,” Jackson added. “You can’t stop him completely. He’s the leading scorer in the league. You just want to make it as difficult as possible.”

The Bobcats opened the game with the first nine points of the game, including five from Raymond Felton. Charlotte led after the opening quarter by three points, but allowed Anthony to pick up 10 points.

Denver took the lead in the second quarter and led by as many as seven points. Flip Murray’s three combined with Jackson’s free throws capped a 9-0 run to close the half as the Bobcats took a 54-49 lead into the break.

The Nuggets again proved to be resilient in the third quarter. Denver used an early run and took another lead, this time as many as four points. However, Charlotte used a late burst to take a lead late in the quarter again and led by three with the final 12 minutes on tap.

Charlotte then took control late in the fourth. With the game tied at 87, Murray hit a jumper from the left wing and Felton followed it up with a drive in the lane. Anthony tried to rally his team and scored to cut the lead in half, but Charlotte responded with a pair of buckets.

The Bobcats pushed their lead to six points, 95-89, with back-to-back buckets from Jackson and Felton. Denver was able to pull within four points on multiple occasions, but never got closer.

Anthony lost his cool late in the fourth quarter after picking up his fifth foul and was whistled for a technical foul. Jackson, who scored 10 points in the final period, sank six free throws in the final minute to seal the Charlotte win.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Nuggets, who were on the second night of a back-to-back after losing in Philadelphia. Anthony, who was coming off his first sub-20-point game of the season, rebounded for a strong night for Denver with 12-for-22 shooting and seven rebounds.

“[Anthony] got his,” Gerald Wallace said. “But we were able to limit the other guys and not let them get involved. Our defense has always been good. If we can keep our turnovers down and get back on defense and keep people in front of us we have a pretty good opportunity (to win) every game.”

However, Anthony’s fellow Nuggets were never able to add much to the league’s most potent offense.

“We just weren’t making the shots tonight,” Anthony said. “It happens. You swing the ball, you don’t make the shots. It happens.”The Bobcats are now 8-3 at Time Warner Cable Arena and hope to take that momentum on the road this weekend.

“We get the momentum on our side going into a two-game road trip in San Antonio and Dallas,” Wallace said. “For us to get this one and have the momentum prepares us to go into those games.”

The Cavaliers beat the Pistons 98-88

Cavaliers 98, Pistons 88

In Auburn Hills, Mich., LeBron James scored 12 of his 34 points in the first quarter to help Cleveland build a cushion it used to cruise to a win over Detroit.

Nuggets 124, T-Wolves 111

In Minneapolis, Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points and Nene had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists as Denver Nuggets handed Minnesota its 14th straight loss.

Pacers 86, Clippers 73

In Indianapolis, Troy Murphy had 18 points and 11 rebounds as Indiana beat Los Angeles to snap a four-game losing streak.

Celtics 113, 76ers 110

In Boston, Rajon Rondo scored six points during a key run early in the fourth quarter and made a shot clock-beating jump shot on the baseline in the closing seconds as the Celtics overcame poor 3-point shooting to beat Philadelphia.

Bobcats 116, Raptors 81

In Charlotte, Gerald Wallace broke out of his shooting slump with 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help the Bobcats to the most lopsided victory in team history, over Toronto.

Heat 99, Magic 98

In Orlando, Michael Beasley dunked a missed shot by Dwyane Wade with 1.6 seconds remaining to lift Miami to a victory over the Magic.

Spurs 118, Warriors 104

In San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 32 points as the Spurs overcame another iron man performance by Monta Ellis in a victory over Golden State.

Ellis tied his career high with 42 points for the Warriors.

Mavericks 130, Rockets 99

In Houston, Jason Kidd moved into second place on the NBA’s career assists list and Jason Terry scored 27 points as Dallas shot 65.5 percent in a victory over the Rockets.

Hornets 102, Bucks 99

In New Orleans, David West had 27 points and 10 rebounds as the Hornets defeated Milwaukee.

Luke Ridnour scored a season-high 23 points for the Bucks.

Suns 126, Grizzlies 111

In Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire scored 18 of his 28 points during a torrid third quarter as the Suns beat Memphis for their 15th consecutive home victory.

Kings 111, Knicks 97

In Sacramento, Donte Greene made six 3-pointers and tied a career high with 24 points, and the Kings never trailed in a victory over New York.