Kobe Bryant led the way with 30 points, and Pau Gasol added 23 and 16 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers rolled to their seventh consecutive victory, 102-84 over the visiting New Orleans Hornets on Sunday.

Andrew Bynum chipped in 13 points and Ron Artest finished with 11 for the Lakers (53-20), who improved to 15-1 since the All-Star break and pulled to within four games of the San Antonio Spurs (57-16) for first place in the Western Conference.

The Hornets (42-32) remained in seventh in the West, one-half game behind the Portland Trail Blazers (42-31) in sixth and a game ahead of the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies (41-33).

Los Angeles made its move in the first quarter on Sunday, closing the frame with an 11-2 burst to grab a 31-19 lead. The Lakers stretched it to 57-41 at the half behind 19 points from Bryant. They never looked back.

Carl Landry started his second straight game in place of the injured David West and led the Hornets with 24 points and 10 boards. Emeka Okafor added 14 an 11.