Kobe Bryant scored 33 points and the host Los Angeles Lakers remained unbeaten by posting a 99-94 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Pau Gasol added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who improved to 8-0 for the third time in their history. They had to fight off the pesky Timberwolves (1-7), who have lost 17 straight road games dating to last season.
Kevin Love had an outstanding game for Minnesota with 23 points and a career-best 24 rebounds but it wasn’t enough to keep the Timberwolves from losing their sixth straight contest.
Minnesota was within 89-87 after Corey Brewer’s dunk with 5:47 remaining but went more than three minutes without scoring. Lamar Odom scored five straight points during the Timberwolves’ drought to give the Lakers a seven-point advantage.
Odom had 15 points and eight rebounds and Ron Artest scored 13 points for Los Angeles, which defeated Minnesota for the 12th consecutive time.
Michael Beasley scored 17 points and Sebastian Telfair added 13 and nine assists for the Wolves, who shot just 38 percent from the field.
Minnesota | L.A. Lakers | |
Kevin Love 23 | Scoring | Kobe Bryant 33 |
Sebastian Telfair 9 | Assists | Derek Fisher 4 |
Kevin Love 24 | Rebounds | Pau Gasol 10 |
Kevin Love 7 | Free Throws Made | Kobe Bryant 7 |
Michael Beasley 4 | Steals | Metta World Peace 3 |
Darko Milicic 2 | Blocks | Pau Gasol 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Minnesota | 94 | 38.0 | 8-21 | 16-19 | 23 | 54 | 3 | 12 | 27 |
L.A. Lakers | 99 | 44.9 | 7-21 | 12-16 | 24 | 42 | 3 | 9 | 18 |