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Bryant leads Lakers over Wizards

Dec 15, 2010 - 5:22 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 24 points, as the Los Angeles Lakers topped the Washington Wizards, 103-89, at the Verzion Center.

Lamar Odom scored 18 to go along with 10 rebounds, and Pau Gasol added 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who have won five of six.

Andrew Bynum, who made his season debut after offseason knee surgery, finished with seven points and five rebounds.

"It was great getting to play again," stated Bynum. "It was a big moment for me because I've been wanting to get back. Now that I am back I just want to help my teammates out and get back in the rotation. For a while I'm going to be coming off the bench until I get back in the swing of things. I'm happy to be back."

Shannon Brown scored 16 in a reserve role for Los Angeles, which topped the Wizards, 115-108, on December 7.

Nick Young led Washington with 21 points, and JaVale McGee scored 12 and grabbed nine rebounds for the Wizards, who have dropped five straight. Gilbert Arenas and Al Thornton both finished with 11 points in defeat.

The Wizards were without the services of John Wall and Andray Blatche, who are both out with knee injuries, and forward Yi Jianlian left the game at the midway point of the first quarter with a sprained right knee.

"Every time you lose someone, roles change," Wizards head coach Flip Saunders said. "When you continue to lose people, you're looking at a guy like [Trevor] Booker who's an energy guy for you, but now he has to become a main guy. You're asking for somebody that is really not ready to do that, but I thought overall as a team we competed."

Washington held a 24-22 lead after a back-and-forth first quarter.

The Lakers opened up the second with a 10-0 run, and after a pair of Gasol free throws in the final minute the Lakers' lead was 55-42. Young responded with two straight baskets, but Gasol's jumper in the final second accounted for the 57-46 Los Angeles lead at the break.

Young continued his consistency against the Lakers with 17 first-half points.

The Lakers continued to widen the gap in the third quarter as a Bryant three- pointer at 3:56 made it an 80-64 game, and after a McGee layup, Bryant went on a nine-point outburst -- bookended with two more triples -- to push the Los Angeles lead to 23 points at 89-66 -- the largest of the game.

The teams traded baskets in the final 1 1/2 minutes and the Lakers' lead was 92-70 heading into the final stanza.

The fourth quarter was all but a formality as Bryant watched from the sidelines, while the Lakers' lead never fell below 14.

Game Notes

The Lakers are now 3-1 on a seven-game road trip...Los Angeles has won nine straight in this series...Ron Artest scored 10 on 4-of-8 from the field for Los Angeles...Booker finished with nine points and nine rebounds for the Wizards.