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Bynum boosts Lakers past Mavericks

Apr 16, 2012 - 2:35 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Andrew Bynum had 23 points and 16 rebounds, while Ramon Sessions added 22 points and five assists as the Los Angeles Lakers won their fourth straight game without Kobe Bryant by downing the Dallas Mavericks, 112-108, in overtime on Sunday.

Bryant has missed the last five games due to a left shin injury.

Pau Gasol netted 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who swept the season series against Dallas after falling in four games to the defending-champion Mavericks in last year's Western Conference semifinals.

"Our guys did a lot of good things, our guys stayed composed and no one panicked. Different guys stepped up offensively and made big shots. Bynum was a monster in the paint for us," Lakers head coach Mike Brown said.

With the win, the Lakers moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the Clippers for the top spot in the Pacific Division.

Dirk Nowitzki netted 24 points, but finished just 9-of-28 from the field for Dallas, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.

"We battled hard but we didn't make enough shots. We have to do better," Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle said.

Dallas is 1 1/2 games behind Memphis for the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference and a half-game ahead of Denver for the sixth seed in the West.

After Delonte West's layup gave the Mavs an 87-81 lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Lakers responded with a 14-6 run and Sessions' three- pointer and floater on back-to-back possessions gave the hosts a 95-93 lead with 3:25 left in regulation.

Jason Terry's pull-up jumper tied the contest at 98 with 55 seconds to go before Sessions and Nowitzki misfired in the waning moments, sending the game into an extra session.

Gasol, who had hit just five three-pointers all season coming in, drained back-to-back triples early in overtime, giving Los Angeles a 106-104 edge.

"The first three you can't practice that and it went in, the second one I had time to set up. I'm glad I got it going at that time because our team needed it. It was a good quality win for us," Gasol said.

The Lakers broke a 106-106 tie after Bynum and Metta World Peace both nailed turnaround jumpers on consecutive trips down the floor, making it 110-106 with 1:04 remaining.

Nowitzki made a pair from the line to trim the deficit to two with 40 ticks to play, and after Bynum missed a short jumper on Los Angeles' ensuing possession, Dallas called timeout with 15 seconds left.

But Terry missed a potential game-tying layup with five seconds to go and Gasol added two free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Dallas led, 27-22, after a quarter of play and took a 54-48 advantage into the locker room.

After tightly contested third frame, which saw nine lead changes, the Lakers took a slim 76-75 edge into the final stanza.

Game Notes

Los Angeles is 5-1 in overtime games while Dallas fell to 3-2...The Mavericks turned the ball over just six times while the Lakers gave the ball away eight times...Dallas was 12-of-21 from beyond the arc while the Lakers held a 50-32 points in the paint edge.