RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An ailing Kobe Bryant left San Antonio with a
sick feeling.
 | | | Sean Elliott scored 19 for the Spurs, but it wasn't enough to get past Shaquille O'Neal's Lakers. |
Bothered by an upper respiratory infection, Bryant scored 16 of
his career-high 43 points in a span of six minutes at the end of
the third quarter and start of the fourth as the Los Angeles Lakers
rebounded from their most lopsided loss in nearly six years to beat
San Antonio 109-100 on Friday night.
The usually accessible Bryant, who also had six assists while
playing 44 minutes, did a brief television interview afterward and
said he was very weak and totally drained. He wasn't available for
other interviews after that.
"He played very excellent ball, moved the ball well, shot the
ball well," said Shaquille O'Neal, who had 36 points and 16
rebounds to help the Lakers beat the Spurs for only the second time
in 11 games despite blowing a 20-point halftime lead.
"Kobe came out and played well, hit some hard shots, played an
awesome game," Lakers guard Ron Harper said. "And when the game
got tight, he made the big shots. So did Shaq."
Bryant scored five points in the final 38 seconds of the third
quarter, including a 3-point shot in the final second to put the
Lakers on top 82-78, and then had 11 points to spark an 18-5
Lakers' run to start the fourth quarter for a 100-83 lead.
The Spurs followed by outscoring the Lakers 14-2 to make it
102-97 with 2:25 left, and a dunk by David Robinson with 1:11 to
play made it 104-100.
Bryant surpassed his previous career high of 40 points by
hitting a jumper with 51 seconds to go. Brian Shaw's foul shot with
33.2 seconds left and two more by Bryant with 26.5 seconds to play
completed the scoring.
"Kobe did a great job of hitting some really big shots," San
Antonio's Tim Duncan said. "We turned up our defense and were
right in front of him on every one of those shots, with a hand in
his face, but he just kept hitting them."
"Kobe got into a comfortable zone, and you really can't stop a
guy when he's comfortable like that," said Derek Anderson of the
Spurs.
Duncan led the Spurs with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Sean
Elliott added a season-high 19 points and Robinson had 16 points
and 10 rebounds.
The Lakers, 121-88 losers Thursday night in Seattle, took it out
on the Spurs in the first half, dominating throughout in taking a
62-42 lead. Duncan had only five points and four rebounds at that
stage, compared to 23 points and nine rebounds for O'Neal.
However Duncan scored eight points to spark a 16-2 San Antonio
run at the beginning of the third quarter, trimming the Lakers'
lead to 64-58, and the Spurs took a 74-73 lead -- their first since
the game's opening minute -- on two free throws by Avery Johnson
with 3:06 left in the period.
O'Neal had only two free throws in the quarter until making a
dunk with 1:12 to play in the period to give the Lakers a 77-76
lead, and they were on top the rest of the way.
"They're going to be a team who'll be there, I think," Harper
said of the Spurs.
"They've always had their way with us," O'Neal acknowledged.
O'Neal said the Lakers lost their edge in the third quarter and
made some mistakes.
"We came out kind of lackadaisical, they came out with a lot of
energy," he said. "We got it back in the fourth quarter."
O'Neal, who had a season-low 13 points against San Antonio last
month, scored his team's first five points and had 10 in the first
4:04 of play.
Duncan left at that juncture after picking up his second foul,
and didn't return until early in the second quarter with the Spurs
trailing 32-25. The Lakers scored 10 straight points -- six by
Bryant -- for a 56-37 lead late in the period.
Game notes
The game was the fourth in five nights for the Lakers,
whose loss at Seattle was their worst since Jan. 9, 1995, when they
were beaten in Portland 129-83. O'Neal was playing for the Orlando
Magic at that time. ... Duncan has 13 double-doubles in 15 games
this season, while O'Neal has 11 in 16. ... The Lakers have won
eight straight home games since a 97-92 loss to Utah in their home
opener. ... San Antonio's 8-0 record at home is the best in the
NBA. However, the Spurs are 2-5 on the road, including losses in
their last three games. ... Los Angeles won six straight games over
San Antonio before the Spurs began their recent domination by
winning the final game between the teams in the lockout-shortened
1998-99 season. ... San Antonio's 105-81 victory over Los Angeles
10 months ago was the Lakers' most lopsided loss of last season.
They responded by winning their next 19 games. ... The Lakers
outrebounded the Spurs 46-37, but committed 14 turnovers to only
eight for San Antonio.
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NBA Scoreboard
San Antonio Clubhouse
LA Lakers Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 95
Charlotte 74
Toronto 104
LA Clippers 95
Minnesota 102
Boston 98
Utah 94
Miami 92
Orlando 83
New Jersey 80
Detroit 103
Cleveland 93
New York 91
Chicago 86
Indiana 86
Vancouver 76
LA Lakers 109
San Antonio 100
Sacramento 105
Phoenix 98
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