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Odom helps Lakers end three-game skid

Dec 30, 2010 - 6:03 AM New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - The Lakers have already had one four-game losing streak this season, but Lamar Odom made sure it didn't happen a second time by scoring a game-high 24 points to lead Los Angeles to a 103-88 victory over New Orleans.

Kobe Bryant added 20 points, Andrew Bynum scored 18 and Pau Gasol notched a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who got nine points and eight assists from Derek Fisher.

Chris Paul led the Hornets with 20 points and seven assists. Marco Belinelli scored 15 and Jarrett Jack added 12 in a reserve role for the Hornets, who have dropped two straight and four of six overall.

"I thought we were overwhelmed," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "You can't treat one game more than any other. With all the stuff going on we treated this like a big game."

Paul scored 11 points in the first quarter but the Lakers still took a 26-23 lead after the opening 12 minutes.

Matt Barnes hit a long three-pointer at 7:27 to put the Lakers up 41-29, and Fisher added a trey and mid-range jumper to extend LA's advantage to 46-29 with just under six minutes left in the second.

Bynum's put-back layup at 1:10 gave the Lakers a 57-39 lead and Gasol drained two from the line for a 20-point edge. Paul responded with two free throws to cut the Lakers lead to 59-41 at the half.

"Things we were running inside of our offense were run well," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I wasn't so happy the second half. They got away from our end of the floor and played a little bit out of their own."

Bryant's driving layup opened up the third-quarter scoring, and his short jumper with eight minutes left put the Lakers' lead at a game-high 24.

Paul trimmed the deficit to 71-54 on a layup, but the Lakers quickly pushed it back to 20 with a Shannon Brown three at 2:56. Odom's three ended the quarter, and gave LA an 83-60 lead entering the fourth.

The Lakers' lead never fell below 15 down the stretch.

Game Notes

The Lakers' four-game skid was from November 26-December 1...LA had a 44-24 rebounding advantage...The Lakers committed 21 turnovers, while the Hornets had 16...New Orleans had a four-game home winning streak snapped...Emeka Okafor scored 10 and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss.