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Bryant, Cook come through as Lakers cool off Heat

Jan 16, 2007 - 8:04 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Kobe Bryant and Brian Cook sparked the Los Angeles Lakers to another home win and ended a hot streak by the Miami Heat.

Bryant and Cook both scored 25 points and made big plays down the stretch to lead the Lakers to a 124-118 overtime victory over the Heat.

Bryant scored six of his points in overtime and added eight assists. He found Cook for a 3-pointer with 2:32 to play that gave the Lakers the lead for good, 117-114.

Cook was 10-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-6 from the arc, and added 10 rebounds and three blocks. The Lakers made 14-of-25 3-pointers.

"I think it's the best balance we've had all year," Cook said. "When you pass the ball around, it's fun playing team basketball."

The performances of Bryant and Cook highlighted what was a strong all-around effort by the Lakers, who improved to 18-4 at home this season.

"(Kobe) is such a great player. Our guys stuck their noses in and played hard and battled him," Miami interim coach Ron Rothstein said. "I don't think we gave him any free passes. I think we made him work. He's just a great player. Just like Dwayne (Wade) is a great player. Those people out there tonight got their money's worth, baby."

Smush Parker scored 17 points, Maurice Evans had 12, Andrew Bynum and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 11 each, and Luke Walton had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Los Angeles.

Parker also came up with an huge steal late in the overtime, stepping in front of a pass from a driving Wade that was meant for James Posey deep in the corner with the Lakers ahead, 121-118, and 37 seconds to play.

Parker then made a pair of free throws to extend the lead.

"There is no containing Dwayne Wade," Parker said. "He's going to get his touches. He's going to get his looks. I knew they were looking for a three at that time. That's what they do. Dwayne tries to penetrate and then dish it out to either corner. I gave him a little head fake like I was going to double him and then got back to the shooter."

Wade scored 35 points for the Heat, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Udonis Haslem had 20 points and 10 rebounds and James Posey added 16 points for Miami.

Despite the loss, the Heat finished with four wins on their six-game road trip.

"It was a game we could have won," Wade said. "It was a hard fought battle but it was a game we could have won. It was a great road trip. We came back as a team. We know what it takes to win ballgames so we're not looking at overall records. We're looking into the push we can make going into All-Star break and then after that, it's a new season."

Los Angeles led 108-101 late in the fourth quarter before Wade scored four quick points and Jason Kapono added a 3-pointer to tie it. Bryant made a runner from the foul line with 46 seconds left to give the Lakers the lead but Haslem's dunk off a feed from Kapono forced overtime.

"When you're playing the champions, no matter how you slice it, they're still the champions, so they know how to do little things to get themselves back in the game," Bryant said. "We have to learn how to do that as well."