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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Shortly before the final minutes of their
breathtaking, historic duel, Kobe Bryant leaned over to Antawn
Jamison and winked.
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| Jamison |
"I'm not going to let you outshine me tonight," Bryant said.
The NBA scoring leader was wrong -- but not by much.
Jamison scored 51 points for the second time in four days and won a scintillating battle with Bryant as the Golden State Warriors rallied in overtime for a 125-122 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.
Bryant also had a career-high 51 points, but Jamison matched
Bryant's every move. It was the first NBA game in which two players
scored 50 points since Dec. 14, 1962, when Wilt Chamberlain had 63
for the Warriors and Elgin Baylor scored 50 for the Lakers.
"It seemed like the clock was going in slow-motion," Jamison
said. "It seemed like we were throwing punches, and they came back
throwing punches.
|  | | All the Warriors together couldn't bottle up Kobe Bryant, but his 51 points still weren't enough to beat Golden State. |
"It was a great game to be in. It's one of those special
moments you're going to cherish for a while."
The final minutes of regulation and overtime indeed resembled a
prizefight, with Jamison and Bryant going toe-to-toe. With the
Lakers trailing in the final three minutes of overtime, Jamison and
Bryant traded six straight high-pressure scores as the Oakland
Arena roared with wild applause for both players.
But the Lakers' Horace Grant missed a layup with six seconds left, and Jamison ripped the rebound away from Bryant. After Bob Sura made one free throw for Golden State, Bryant's long 3-pointer at the buzzer missed.
"It just hurts to lose," Bryant said. "Forget the 50 points.
It just hurts to lose this type of ballgame."
Jamison, who went 21-of-29 from the field, scored 51 in a loss at Seattle on Sunday night to set his career high. He became the first player to score 50 points in consecutive games since Michael Jordan, who did it three straight times in April 1987.
"Jamison can play. He can play, man," Bryant said. "That's the first time I've been involved in a game like that."
Bryant, who set his previous career high with 43 last week against San Antonio, was 13-of-13 on free throws. Fifty-one points are the most scored by anyone in the NBA this season.
"I never imagined having a game like that, and I bet Kobe
didn't either," Jamison said. "Earlier (in the game), I wasn't
even feeling it. I wasn't trying to do anything out of the
ordinary. It just happened."
Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers,
who lost for just the second time in 10 games. Golden State got 24
points from Larry Hughes and snapped a six-game losing streak
against the world champions.
"It seemed like everything Jamison threw up went in, but they just played with a lot more enthusiasm than we did," O'Neal said.
Sura had 16 points for Golden State, and Mookie Blaylock added
11 points and 10 assists. The win was redemption for the Warriors
after last month's 111-91 loss at Staples Center.
Though they're still at the bottom of the Pacific Division, the
Warriors are showing progress -- and Jamison is showing signs of
greatness. He became the first Golden State player to score more
than 50 points in consecutive games since Rick Barry in 1967.
"(Bryant) played a great game, but it was Jamison's night
tonight," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "He was 21-of-29, and
we just had a hard time putting the clamps on him."
The Warriors looked strong during a first half in which they
shot 61 percent and led 63-57, their best offensive output in any
half this season. The Lakers jumped ahead with a 21-6 run early in
the third quarter, but the Warriors finished regulation with a
desperate 12-3 rally, led by six points from Jamison.
O'Neal committed a flagrant foul on Vonteego Cummings with 1:33
left, and Cummings' free throws tied the score at 107. The teams
were scoreless until the regulation buzzer, with Cummings missing a
wild layup with 2.5 seconds left and Bryant coming up short on a
jumper as time expired.
The Lakers showed some early fatigue, likely from Tuesday
night's 96-85 victory over Philadelphia. Los Angeles' three-game
winning streak was snapped.
Chris Mills didn't dress for Golden State with a sore right
ankle, and rookie Chris Porter started in his place.
Game notes
Isaiah Rider, an Oakland native, didn't play for the Lakers amid reports he was late for the team plane. "I wasn't aware he was late," Jackson said. "I just didn't think he was ready to
play the game tonight." ... Lakers rookie Mark Madsen, a Stanford graduate and East Bay native, received a warm welcome from the crowd midway through the second quarter. Los Angeles' Brian Shaw
and Greg Foster both hail from Oakland as well. ... Cummings, activated from Golden State's injured list earlier in the day,
played 13 minutes with a clear mask on his face. Cummings missed
the Warriors' last 15 games with a broken bone in his face.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Golden State Clubhouse
 FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Kobe Bryant Official Site
Rick Fox Official Site
Mark Madsen Official Site
Antawn Jamison Official Site
RECAPS
LA Clippers 93
Washington 88
Charlotte 91
Indiana 88
Miami 95
Denver 78
Milwaukee 109
New Jersey 87
Cleveland 92
Chicago 88
Dallas 94
New York 85
Portland 95
Toronto 88
Detroit 112
Seattle 99
Golden State 125
LA Lakers 122
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