Bryant scored 41 points in that game, but he had just 18 last night. Ron Artest, who went to Los Angeles around the time Trevor Ariza went to Houston in July, finished with 22 points and Andrew Bynum had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Andersen scored Houston’s first 6 points of the fourth quarter, pushing the Rockets’ lead to 86-73 while fans booed. The Lakers twice turned the ball over on offensive fouls by Bynum and Lamar Odom.
Suns 101, Raptors 100 - Amare Stoudemire followed one of the worst games of his career with his best of the season, scoring 30 points to lead Phoenix to a 101-100 victory over Toronto, the Suns’ 11th straight win over the Raptors.
The Suns improved to an NBA-best 9-2, winning their 13th in a row at home.
They are the only team in the league to score at least 100 points in every game this season and they have scored at least 100 in 30 straight home games.
Stoudemire, who shot a miserable 2 for 15 in a loss to the Lakers Thursday, wasted no time in getting back in gear, scoring 12 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting. Steve Nash finished with 23 points and nine assists, and Channing Frye added 20, hitting six 3-pointers. Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points, and Andrea Bargnani had 17.
The score was tied at 98 after a 3-pointer by Turkoglu with 1:34 left. He followed that with a jumper, giving Toronto a 100-98 lead with 51.5 seconds to go. However, Nash came through with a driving layup with 38.9 left and when he was fouled by Jose Calderon he converted the foul shot for the final score.
Mavericks 95, Pistons 90 - Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and rookie Rodrique Beaubois added 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting to help visiting Dallas snap Detroit’s winning streak at three games.
Drew Gooden had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Shawn Marion also had 11 points, and Jason Kidd added 10 points and seven assists for the Mavericks.
Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 28 points, and Will Bynum had 27, including 17 in the fourth quarter. Ben Gordon, though, went 1 for 16 and missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it with two seconds left.
Clippers 101, Thunder 93 - Baron Davis scored 24 points, including a key 3-pointer in the final minute, to help visiting Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak by beating Oklahoma City.
Chris Kaman added 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting and had seven rebounds for Los Angeles.
Kevin Durant scored a season-high 40 points and had eight rebounds for Oklahoma City, which was seeking what would have been only its second three-game winning streak since the franchise moved from Seattle before last season. Oklahoma City had road wins over the Clippers and San Antonio in its previous two games.
