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Bryant, Gasol lead Lakers past Mavs

Mar 22, 2012 - 5:24 AM Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, Pau Gasol had 27 and the Lakers cruised past the Mavericks, 109-93, on Wednesday.

Recently acquired point guard Ramon Sessions added 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Matt Barnes finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Los Angeles made 58.4 percent of its shots to halt a two-game slide.

"I've been extremely impressed. He takes a lot of pressure off of me," Bryant said about Sessions.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points to pace Dallas and Jason Terry added 23. The Mavericks saw their four-game win streak come to an end.

The Lakers blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead in Tuesday's loss to the Rockets, but finished strong on Wednesday.

Sessions opened the fourth with a three and Andrew Bynum followed with a bucket for an 85-72 lead. Terry responded with a trey and Brandan Wright added a free throw, cutting the Dallas deficit to nine, but LA countered with a decisive push.

Sessions drained a pull-up jumper and Bynum fed Gasol for a three-pointer, which made it 90-76 and prompted a Dallas timeout. The Lakers held a double- digit advantage for the remaining eight minutes of action.

"We had breakdowns defensively. We had shot-making droughts and they were able to retake the lead and get a cushion," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said. "It was probably the difference in the game, but there were other breakdowns too, and we simply just did not play well enough."

Sessions started strong as well, scoring 12 first-half points en route to a 57-44 LA advantage at the break. The Lakers led by as many as 14 in the third, but Dallas closed the quarter with a 7-2 run to make it 80-72 entering the fourth.

Game Notes

Sessions was acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline...The Mavericks had scored 100-plus points in their previous four games...Former Lakers forward Lamar Odom had one point and went 0-for-3 from the field...Dallas forward Shawn Marion missed his third straight game with a sore left knee.