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)

Lakers vs miami heat 108-107 on Friday night

kobe bryant la lakers vs miami heat

LOS ANGELS  Down by two with 3.2 seconds left, Kobe Bryant merely wanted to drive for a tying basket. His foot slipped when he got the ball, and Miami’s defense forced Bryant to throw up an off-balance 3-point shot that was well off target and far too long.Yes, everything went wrong on the Los Angeles Lakers’ final possession.Kobe somehow made it all right.

Bryant banked in his final shot over Dwyane Wade’s outstretched arm at the buzzer, ending the superstars’ sensational duel and sending the Lakers to their eighth straight victory, 108-107 over the Heat on Friday night.Bryant scored 33 points, but his falling bank shot from straightaway likely will rank among the most incredible highlights of his career – even if he refused to take too much credit for it.

“It was the luckiest shot I’ve ever taken, by far,” Bryant said. “It felt good, (but) I just couldn’t believe this ball might go in on this shot.”With 3-pointers by Bryant and Derek Fisher in the final 4.3 seconds, Los Angeles swiped an outstanding regular-season game away from the Heat and Wade, who scored nine of his 26 points in the final 2 minutes. A night of mediocre shooting finally cost the defending NBA scoring champion when he missed a free throw that gave Los Angeles one last chance to tie it with a two-point basket.

Bryant was forced to go for the win, and his improbable shot kept the Lakers atop the overall NBA standings while sending Miami to its eighth loss in 12 games.”If you told me before the game that it would be decided by Kobe shooting a one-legged backboard 3, I’d have taken that,” Wade said. “The basketball gods were with him on that one, but we did a great job and did what we’re supposed to do on the road – give ourselves a chance to win. But a great player hit an unbelievable shot. There are a couple of guys around the league that make big shots, but there ain’t many, and he’s one of them.

The matchup between U.S. Olympic teammates was the center of an action-packed game featuring a shoving match between Jermaine O’Neal and Lamar Odom, leading to Odom’s ejection with 5:07 to play.

Neither star was perfect, with Wade struggling to a 7-of-21 shooting performance and Bryant missing the basket entirely on a potential tying shot with 24 seconds to play. Both came up big in the final seconds, but Bryant was just a bit bigger in front of his raucous home crowd.

“It’s L.A.,” said Fisher, who hit a 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left, setting the stage for Wade’s last miss and Bryant’s heroics. “Why not have it be as dramatic as it was? … I had to remind myself this was a regular season game in mid-December. I was jumping on Kobe’s back like it was the finals.”O’Neal had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who rebounded from an 18-point loss in Denver one night earlier with an impressive effort against the defending NBA champions.After Wade put Miami ahead 102-100 with 49 seconds left on an awkward one-handed shot from the baseline, Miami appeared to sew up its first road win over the Lakers in five tries when Wade’s two free throws put the Heat up 106-102 with 9.3 seconds to play.

“I only get a chance to play against them twice a year, and I take on the challenge and I enjoy it,” Wade said. “I enjoy the competitive nature that I know Kobe’s going to bring every night, and I’m going to bring the same things. I think he understands that as well, so it was a good battle going back and forth. He got the last laugh this time.”

Pau Gasol scored 22 points and Andrew Bynum added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, who had won seven straight games by double digits while surging to the top of the standings. After several games against struggling opponents, they seemed headed to a narrow defeat in their toughest test in weeks – but Bryant wouldn’t allow it.In the midst of an underwhelming start to the season, Miami showed considerable moxie in its third game in four days. Quentin Richardson hit a 3-pointer with 2:44 to play to put the Heat in front before Wade scored nine of their final 11 points.

Moments earlier, O’Neal and Odom exchanged shoves after Odom fouled O’Neal, who bumped into Odom while hanging on the rim after his dunk. When Odom reacted angrily, O’Neal gave him a one-handed shove in the chest, and Odom responded with a two-handed shove.Both got technical fouls, but the T was Odom’s second, resulting in his ejection.Bryant’s duel with Wade didn’t start out with much excitement: Wade scored one point in the first quarter and didn’t manage a field goal until throwing down two stellar dunks in the final 2:04 before halftime.

NOTES: Gasol fell to the court writhing in pain with 6:03 to play after Odom poked him in the left eye while both players tried to block a layup by Richardson. Gasol returned to the game when Odom was ejected. … Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he discussed Ron Artest’s recent admission of drinking alcohol during games a decade ago – not to talk about Artest’s drinking, but about his decision to discuss it with the media.

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.