LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant scored six of his 35 points in the final 3:51 and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Seattle 106-99 Tuesday night, snapping a three-game skid and sending the SuperSonics to their fifth straight loss.
Rookie Kevin Durant had 25 points for the Sonics, who are league-worst 2-13 in their first season under coach P.J. Carlesimo — matching the poorest start in franchise history. They began their inaugural 1967-68 season 2-14 under Al Bianchi. Seattle has lost 14 consecutive games against Western Conference teams, including five last season.
The Lakers had a 77-67 lead when Seattle’s Nick Collison drove to the basket and sustained a cut below the right eye as Bryant took a swipe at the ball. Collison wasn’t able to take the free throws, so Lakers coach Phil Jackson was allowed by the NBA rules to select any one of the Sonics to replace Collison at the line.
Jackson chose Mouhamed Sene, who reported in for the first time after playing only 13 minutes this season in three games and was 19-for-35 on free throws in his 31 previous NBA contests. The 7-foot center made the first and missed the second, after which the Lakers increased their margin to 85-73 entering the fourth.
Jordan Farmar hit a 3-pointer, his first points of the game, to give Los Angeles a 92-79 lead with 8:11 to play and connected again from behind the arc less than 2 minutes later. The Sonics got as close as 102-97 on Durant’s three-point play with 13.2 seconds left, but Bryant helped clinch it with a pair of free throws.
Seven of Seattle’s losses this season have been by margins of seven points or fewer.
Bryant had 21 points in the first half and Lamar Odom had 13, but the Lakers could do no better than a 54-all tie at intermission. In a game that included nine lead changes and ties, neither team led by more than seven points until Lakers guard Derek Fisher sank three free throws for a 75-66 advantage after he was fouled by Earl Watson behind the arc with 3:17 left in the third quarter.
Bryant had 14 points in the first quarter, including a 19-foot jumper that edged him past 1985 NBA scoring champ Bernard King for 32nd place on the all-time list. Bryant’s next target is John Stockton, who is 25 points ahead of him.
Notes: Jackson’s handles timeouts differently than his peers.
First, he huddles with his assistants instead of talking to the players right away at the bench and drawing up plays. “I like to collect information from my coaches — go over our past possessions, look at how many successful possessions we’ve had and how many turnovers we’ve got,” Jackson said. “We’re competing with a sound system most of the time, a dance crew, or something else going on that’s a noise factor. So I like to tell the players that this is the time they can support each other, talk to each other, towel off and get a drink. We only need about 20 seconds with them, anyway. I mean, I’m not going to give them a lecture on how to play basketball. But if we have something we have to correct, we go in there a little bit earlier.” … Among the sellout crowd was new Angels CF Torii Hunter, in town for Wednesday’s introductory press conference. One thing he has in common with the Lakers — he moved to Los Angeles from Minnesota. “I’ve been here a couple of times, but this is my first Laker game as an L.A. player,” Hunter said. “These guys treat you with so much respect, man, and I love it. They’re spoiling me already.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
