Final - OT
Bryant nets 40 as Lakers edge Jazz in OT
Jan 12, 2012 - 5:57 AM Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - After netting 48 points on Tuesday against Phoenix, Kobe Bryant poured in 40 more points on Wednesday as the Los Angeles Lakers escaped Utah with a 90-87 overtime win over the Jazz.Down, 88-87, with 16.5 left in overtime, Gordon Hayward drove in the lane from the right wing and dropped a pass off to Al Jefferson underneath. But as Jefferson rose, so did Andrew Bynum as he made an unbelieveable block -- his fifth of the contest -- to keep the Lakers in front.
"It was a big play. He had to recover. He did a good job getting his hands on the ball. He had the athleticism to contest it at the end. It was a huge play," Bryant said of the block.
Bryant corralled the rebound and made two free throws to make it 90-87. Devin Harris' desperation three-pointer with 0.7 remaining was blocked by Bryant.
Pau Gasol had 14 points and 11 rebounds while Bynum finished with 12 points and nine boards for the Lakers, who avoided an 0-4 start on the road for the first time since 1995-96 -- Bryant's senior year of high school.
"We were bound to get one eventually," Bryant said of the road win. "It felt good to get one here. This is a very tough place to play and it was a huge test for us."
Paul Millsap had 29 points and nine rebounds to pace the Jazz, who lost their first home game (5-1) and had their five-game winning streak snapped.
"Great effort. We're coming, we're getting better," Utah head coach Tyrone Corbin said. "(We) played against a good team tonight. They were a little bit better than we were but our effort was great. The guys did a great job of hanging in there. Everybody was a little tired, they were tired also. But I was proud of my guys and they fought the entire game."
After Bryant nailed a tough turnaround fadeaway jumper to give Los Angeles a 76-71 advantage, Josh Howard reeled off the next five points -- including his first three-pointer of the season -- to tie the game, 76-76, with 57.1 seconds remaining in the fourth.
The Lakers regained the lead, 78-76, on a Bryant baseline jumper with 39.4 to go, but Millsap sent the game into overtime as he tipped home a Jefferson runner with 21.4 remaining.
Raja Bell played fantastic defense on Bryant as his long jump shot didn't draw iron.
Millsap scored the first four points of overtime and Howard's second trey of the night gave Utah an 85-81 advantage with 2:57 left.
But Gasol netted five of the next seven points for the Lakers -- including his first three-pointer of the year -- to give Los Angeles an 88-85 lead with 51 seconds left.
Millsap's baseline jumper made it 88-87 with 39.1 to go.
Bryant came out hot, hitting 5-of-8 shots for 14 points in the opening stanza, as Los Angeles took a 26-23 lead into the second.
The Jazz, though, took a 42-41 lead into the break. They turned the ball over just six times in the opening 24 minutes. Bryant netted 21 first-half points.
Bryant totaled 10 more points in the third as the Lakers led, 66-61, after three.
Game Notes
The Jazz finished with just 11 turnovers...The teams totaled just 29 points in the final quarter...Howard finished with 18 points...The Lakers shot 42.7 percent from the floor while Utah finished with a 38.7 percent clip...The Lakers beat the Jazz, 96-71, on December 27...Both teams went 1-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half.
- LOS ANGELES: 90
UTAH: 87
Final - OT
Jan 11 11:36 PM - LOS ANGELES: 78
UTAH: 78
End of Regulation
Jan 11 11:20 PM - 204
roots - LOS ANGELES: 66
UTAH: 61
End of 3rd
Jan 11 10:46 PM - LOS ANGELES: 41
UTAH: 42
Halftime
Jan 11 10:01 PM - LOS ANGELES: 26
UTAH: 23
End of 1st
Jan 11 9:36 PM - LOS ANGELES: 0
UTAH: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
Jan 11 9:12 PM
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