LAKERS 93, HEAT 83: Kobe Bryant scored 33 points and totally outplayed Dwyane Wade as Los Angeles beat visiting Miami to improve to 3-0 after the All-Star break.
Metta World Peace added 17 points and Andrew Bynum had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Lakers won their eighth consecutive home contest and snapped a four-game losing streak against Miami.
Bryant had his third straight 30-point outing since suffering a broken nose and concussion in the All-Star Game - courtesy of a hard foul by Wade - to help Los Angeles improve to 17-2 at home.
LeBron James had 25 points and 13 rebounds while Wade was limited to 16 points and fouled out for only the second time in seven seasons as the Heat lost back-to-back games for the first time since dropping three in a row from Jan. 10-13.
Los Angeles trailed only once in the game, at 9-7. Bryant appeared to come out with a purpose and scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting to give his team a 28-20 lead after one quarter.
The Lakers went ahead by as many as 16 points and carried a 50-38 lead into halftime, getting a pair of 3-pointers from reserve Andrew Goudelock and seven straight points from World Peace late in the quarter.
Miami cut the deficit to two points on two occasions in the third quarter but the Lakers scored the final seven points to take a 71-62 lead into the fourth quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Heat F Chris Bosh missed his third consecutive game due to the death of his grandmother. Bosh is averaging 18.4 points and leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game. ... Wade picked up four fouls in a span of 3 minutes, three seconds in the fourth quarter and ended Miami's NBA record streak of 88 games without a player fouling out. ... World Peace had his highest output since scoring 19 points in the second game of the season. He has scored 32 points in his last two after reaching double figures only once in the previous 17 games.
Miami | L.A. Lakers | |
LeBron James 25 | Scoring | Kobe Bryant 33 |
LeBron James 7 | Assists | Steve Blake 6 |
LeBron James 13 | Rebounds | Andrew Bynum 13 |
Joel Anthony 3 | Free Throws Made | Kobe Bryant 5 |
Mario Chalmers 3 | Steals | Metta World Peace 4 |
LeBron James 2 | Blocks | Andrew Bynum 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Miami | 83 | 37.5 | 7-24 | 10-15 | 22 | 35 | 5 | 10 | 12 |
L.A. Lakers | 93 | 49.3 | 5-17 | 18-25 | 19 | 44 | 10 | 7 | 18 |