Lakers 95, Nets 90: Dwight Howard had 23 points and 15 rebounds as host Los Angeles rallied to give Mike D'Antoni a victory in his Laker coaching debut.

Kobe Bryant scored 25 points, including six free throws in the final 17.1 seconds, as the Lakers erased a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to snap Brooklyn's five-game winning streak.

Pau Gasol had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Metta World Peace also scored 17 points as Los Angeles beat the Nets for the ninth consecutive time despite not registering a field goal for the first 7 minutes, 20 seconds of the final quarter. The Lakers have won five of six since firing Mike Brown on Nov. 9.

Brook Lopez scored 23 points and Deron Williams had 22 and 10 assists for Brooklyn, which managed only one field goal after taking its biggest lead at 84-78 with 5:22 to play.

The Lakers appeared as if they were intent on scoring a first-round knockout for D'Antoni, scoring the game's first 10 points, but the Nets fought back to take a 57-56 halftime lead as Lopez and Williams combined for 33 points.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Los Angeles prevailed despite a woeful 19-for-37 effort at the free-throw line. Howard was the biggest culprit, converting 7 of 19. ... Lopez scored 12 first-quarter points for the Nets. He entered the game second in the league in first-quarter scoring with an average of 8.4 points, trailing only Carmelo Anthony. ... Bryant hit his first five shots and had 11 points in the opening quarter but managed only two field goals from that point on until hitting a floater for an 89-86 lead with 1:58 to play.