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Farmar, Bryant help Lakers crush lowly Heat

Feb 29, 2008 - 7:33 AM By Jonathan Raber PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The red-hot Los Angeles Lakers continue to find ways to get it done.

Jordan Farmar scored 12 of his career-high 24 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers earn their 10th straight win with Thursday's 106-88 victory over the slumping Miami Heat.

All-Star Kobe Bryant scored 21 points and Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom had 13 and 11 rebounds apiece for Los Angeles, which is one win shy from tying its longest winning streak since the 2003-04 campaign.

"We just want to keep it rolling," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We just want to keep this thing, this energy going in the right direction."

The Lakers remain atop the loaded Western Conference at 41-17 and need one more victory to tie last season's win total with 24 contests remaining.

"We're really having a fun time playing with one another," said Bryant, who had eight assists and four steals. "It makes the season that much more enjoyable."

Miami (10-45) sits on the other side of the spectrum, owning the NBA's worst record with just two wins over its last 29 outings.

Farmar, who tied his previous career high with 21 points in Tuesday's win at Portland, connected on 5-of-7 shots in the fourth quarter - including a 3-pointer from the wing that made it 91-75 with 5:16 remaining.

"It's funny, I told my dad that I was going to get (my career high)," Farmar said. "I've been feeling really good, just being really aggressive. I was joking in a sense, but once the game started going and I started knocking down some shots I felt I had an opportunity to do it."

Heat All-Star Dwyane Wade had an off-night, going scoreless in the first half before finishing with 18 points.

"It's just one of those games in the first half, it didn't even feel right," Wade said. "I just chalked it up as being one of those halves and come back the second half and try to be more aggressive. I haven't had a half like that in a long time, so I guess I was due for one of those."

The Heat got to within seven points early in the third quarter, but the Lakers scored the next 10 points to make it 69-52 on Gasol's short hook with 4:40 remaining.

"We fell back in the beginning of the game and we recovered somewhat, but we never really got back into the game where they had to worry or be concerned about making another run or something," Heat coach Pat Riley said.