By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer ADVERTISING LOS ANGELES — Although Kobe Bryant hates to disappoint everybody who thinks his 33-point performance in a win over the Miami Heat was payback to Dwyane Wade for breaking his nose in the
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES — Although Kobe Bryant hates to disappoint everybody who thinks his 33-point performance in a win over the Miami Heat was payback to Dwyane Wade for breaking his nose in the All-Star game a week ago, that particular Hollywood fable just isn’t true.
“He knew I was going to be ready regardless,” Bryant said.
Yet the legend of the Masked Mamba will only grow after the Los Angeles Lakers finally struck a few blows of their own in this previously one-sided matchup with mighty Miami.
Bryant produced his third straight dynamic 30-point game while wearing a clear protective mask over his still-tender nose, while Wade managed just 16 points before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 93-83 victory Sunday.
Metta World Peace scored 17 points while leading a solid defensive effort for the Lakers, who have won 17 of their last 18 home games and eight of 10 overall. Andrew Bynum had 16 points and 13 rebounds as Los Angeles never trailed in the final 44 minutes against Miami, snapping a four-game skid in Bryant’s head-to-head matchups with Wade’s Heat.
“We did extremely well,” said Bryant, who had just 24 points in the Lakers’ loss in Miami six weeks ago. “I felt like we matched their energy and their physicality, which was a problem for us in Miami.”
Just one week after Wade also gave Bryant a concussion with that hard foul in Orlando, Bryant scored 18 points in a dynamic first quarter. He added enough big baskets in the second half to keep the Lakers ahead with help from his starting frontcourt of Pau Gasol, Bynum and World Peace, which combined for 44 points and 30 rebounds while Chris Bosh remained out of Miami’s lineup.
Although the Staples Center crowd roundly booed Wade during pregame introductions and the first few times he touched the ball, Wade apologized profusely after the All-Star game to Bryant, his fellow U.S. Olympian. Bryant insisted he bore no grudge, saying Wade would never injure him on purpose.
Bryant has spent much of the last week in dark rooms to ease his injuries, and he plans to keep the mask when the Lakers make a three-game road trip next week.
LeBron James had 25 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Heat, who lost on the final two stops of their three-game trip after nine consecutive victories. Only Mike Miller’s jumper with 21.4 seconds left saved Miami from its lowest-scoring performance of the season.
Mario Chalmers scored 15 for the Heat, who played their third straight game without Bosh after the All-Star forward attended his grandmother’s funeral on Saturday.
“We all know that Chris is a big part of our team, but guys have to step up in his absence,” James said. “We could have definitely used him the last couple of games, but we gave ourselves a chance to win in Utah. Today was a little bit different. They played exceptionally well. That’s a really good team. They’re 17-2 at home for a reason. We gave it everything we had, and when you do that, you can be satisfied.”
Wade didn’t seem satisfied after going 7 for 17 and committed five turnovers before fouling out with 5:14 to play, committing three fouls in rapid succession for an early end to a rough day. Wade and James were both out of sync for long stretches, as evidenced by their combined 2-for-5 performance at the free-throw line from a duo that averages more than 15 foul shots per game.
Wade fouled out for just the fifth time in his regular-season career and the first time in 259 games since Oct. 29, 2008.
Driving to the hoop and hitting fallaway jumpers with equal grace, Bryant went 8 for 10 and earned a handful of standing ovations in the first quarter. Los Angeles led 50-38 at halftime, with the Heat exceeding their lowest-scoring half of the season by just one point.
“They came out with a great deal of energy,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Bryant was very efficient and very aggressive to start, and from that point, we were just playing catch-up the entire game.”
CELTICS 115
KNICKS 111, OT
BOSTON — Celtics guard Rajon Rondo had his second triple-double in three games, spoiling Harvard grad Jeremy Lin’s return to Boston.
Rondo had 18 points, 20 assists and a career-high 17 rebounds, and Paul Pierce scored 34 — including a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left in regulation. Kevin Garnett finished with 18 points with 10 rebounds.
Lin picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and struggled to 14 points in 32 minutes. He had five assists and four rebounds while shooting 6 for 16 from the floor.
Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points for the Knicks, six of them in the final 100 seconds of regulation as they briefly took the lead. Amare Stoudemire had 16 points and 13 rebounds, but New York still fell a game below .500 and 11/2 games behind Boston in the Eastern Conference.
BULLS 96, 76ERS 91
PHILADELPHIA — Derrick Rose tied a season high with 35 points, and Joakim Noah had 11 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to their sixth straight win.
In a battle of division leaders, the Bulls made all the big shots over the final minutes to end a three-game losing streak against the Sixers.
Iguodala’s tying 3 clanged off the backboard and finished off the Sixers.
RAPTORS 83, WARRIORS 75
TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points, James Johnson had 12 points and 12 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat Golden State, snapping a five-game losing streak against the Warriors.
Amir Johnson had 11 points and 13 rebounds, Leandro Barbosa scored 18 points and Ed Davis grabbed 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who had lost 11 of their last 14.
David Lee had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Monta Ellis scored 20 points, but Golden State lost for the sixth time in nine games.
CLIPPERS 105
ROCKETS 103, OT
HOUSTON — Chris Paul had 28 points and 10 assists, Blake Griffin added 14 points and 11 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets in overtime.
Randy Foye had 15 points and Caron Butler and Mo Williams had 14 apiece for the Clippers, who beat Houston for only the eighth time in the last 33 meetings.
Kevin Martin scored 25 points, and Samuel Dalembert and Luis Scola each grabbed 12 rebounds for the Rockets.
Nuggets 99, Spurs 94
SAN ANTONIO — Ty Lawson had 22 points and 11 assists and sank the game-sealing jumper with 11.9 seconds left, and the injury-laden Denver Nuggets overshadowed the return of Manu Ginobili to beat the San Antonio Spurs 99-94.
Still without leading scorer Danilo Gallinari and Nene, the Nuggets won their third in a row with a short-handed cast that became just the third team to beat San Antonio at home.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 25 points. Ginobili scored eight in 24 minutes, playing his first game in two weeks after straining a stomach muscle. He missed a month earlier with a broken hand.
Gary Neal had a chance to tie in the closing seconds but his 3-pointer rimmed out.
