Pau Gasol

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol spent the final minutes of the Los Angeles Lakers' final game arguing in Oklahoma City, disagreeing on the best way to run a pick-and-roll play. It might have been the tandem's last few minutes together with a franchise that has little patience when even great players stop bringing home rings. The Lakers were eliminated in the second round for the second straight year Monday night with a five-game loss to the Thunder. Although the Lakers had a solid season despite getting no real training camp to make the enormous switch from coaches Phil Jackson to Mike...

OKLAHOMA CITY - Russell Westbrook scored 28 points, Kevin Durant added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder surged ahead in the second half to beat Los Angeles, 106-90, in Game 5 Monday night and eliminate the Lakers from the playoffs. The two All-Stars both bypassed their breaks in the second half and used the time they'd normally be resting to fuel the big run that put away the game and end the Lakers' season. Westbrook had a pair of 3-point plays during a 14-3 burst that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter, and Durant hit two 3-pointers as the Thunder...

OKLAHOMA CITY - Russell Westbrook scored 28 points, Kevin Durant added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder surged ahead in the second half to beat Los Angeles, 106-90, in Game 5 Monday night and eliminate the Lakers from the playoffs. The two All-Stars both bypassed their breaks in the second half and used the time they'd normally be resting to fuel the big run that put away the game and end the Lakers' season. Westbrook had a pair of 3-point plays during a 14-3 burst that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter, and Durant hit two 3-pointers as the Thunder...

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol spent the final minutes of the Los Angeles Lakers' final game arguing in Oklahoma City, disagreeing on the best way to run a pick-and-roll play. It might have been the tandem's last few minutes together with a franchise that has little patience when even great players stop bringing home rings. The Lakers were eliminated in the second round for the second straight year Monday night with a five-game loss to the Thunder. Although the Lakers had a solid season despite getting no real training camp to make the enormous switch from coaches Phil Jackson to Mike...

Andrew Bynum had 16 points and 30 rebounds, the most in an NBA game this season, and the Los Angeles Lakers didn't need Kobe Bryant to blow out the San Antonio Spurs 98-84 Wednesday night. Metta World Peace scored 26 points and the Lakers, playing their third straight game without the injured Bryant, manhandled the Spurs underneath to hand the West's second-place team one of their most embarrassing losses this season. Bryant is sitting out to heal his sore left shin. There remains no timetable on when the NBA's leading scorer might return.

Kobe Bryant scored 26 of his 39 points in a dynamic second half, Pau Gasol added 17 points and 11 rebounds, and the weary Los Angeles Lakers gritted out a 97-90 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. Matt Barnes had 16 points and six rebounds before fouling out for the Lakers, who won their fifth straight home game while playing their NBA-high ninth game in 13 days. Los Angeles bounced back from a passionless first half with another strong effort from Bryant, who has three straight 30-point games.

■When, where: Tonight, 8, at TD Garden. ■TV, radio: TNT, WEEI (850, 93.7). ■Scoring: Kobe Bryant 29.3, Andrew Bynum 17.1, Pau Gasol 16.4. ■Rebounds: Bynum 12.4, Gasol 10.1, Bryant 5.80. ■Assists: Bryant 5.4, Derek Fisher 3.9, Gasol 3.0. ■Head to head: This is the first of two meetings. The teams split two games last season, winning on each other's home court. ■Miscellany: Coach Mike Brown returns to the bench after serving a one-game suspension Monday for making contact with a game official . . . Former BU head coach and Celtics...

Kobe Bryant is back to being the closer. Two days after getting benched late in a home loss to Memphis, Bryant made a pair of jumpers in the final 64 seconds, finishing with 30 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers past the short-handed Golden State Warriors, 104-101 on Tuesday night. Bryant missed his first two shots in the final period before twice rising over a pair of defenders for difficult fall-away jumpers from the corner. The first tied the game and the second put the Lakers ahead by two — and for good — with 32 seconds remaining.

Kobe Bryant scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, Pau Gasol had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit for a 96-91 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night in another testy edition of their cross-hallway rivalry. Andrew Bynum scored 19 points to help the Lakers snapped their three-game skid with their first win of the season over their fellow Staples Center tenants. The Clippers beat the Lakers twice in the preseason and again earlier this month.

Boston Globe basketball writer Gary Washburn offers a preview of the Western Conference matchups in the NBA playoffs: 1. San Antonio vs. 8. Utah After last year's embarrassing upset at the hands of the Grizzlies, the Spurs won't take the Jazz lightly. But this series will be a challenge for the West's top seed. After playing in last year's first round without Manu Ginobili, the Spurs are healthy and Tony Parker may have earned MVP votes with his career season. Utah is young and big, and this may be the first step in a return to being among the Western Conference elite.

Kobe Bryant walked out of the visitor's locker room to a few dozen fans waiting with hugs and handshakes for the Los Angeles Lakers' star and a circle of reporters ready to stick a microphone near his face. Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber also took his turn to smile for a photo with No. 24. Even when he doesn't play, everything in Lakerland still revolves around Bryant. Soon, it really will again. Andrew Bynum had 31 points and nine rebounds, Pau Gasol recorded a triple-double and Los Angeles beat the undermanned Warriors 99-87 Wednesday...

Tony Parker had 29 points and 13 assists, Tim Duncan had 19 points and eight rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs handed the Los Angeles Lakers their worst loss of the season, 112-91 on Tuesday night. Manu Ginobili scored 15 points as the Spurs improved their spot atop the Western Conference with their fourth straight win. They also snapped Los Angeles' four-game winning streak while dominating a meeting of division leaders — albeit with Kobe Bryant sitting out his sixth straight game to rest his bruised shin.

Andrew Bynum had 16 points and 30 rebounds, the most in an NBA game this season, and the Los Angeles Lakers didn't need Kobe Bryant to blow out the San Antonio Spurs 98-84 Wednesday night. Metta World Peace scored 26 points and the Lakers, playing their third straight game without the injured Bryant, manhandled the Spurs underneath to hand the West's second-place team one of their most embarrassing losses this season. Bryant is sitting out to heal his sore left shin. There remains no timetable on when the NBA's leading scorer might return.

Pau Gasol had 25 points and nine rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Kobe Bryant's absence to beat the New Orleans Hornets, 93-91 on Monday night. Bryant missed his second straight game with a sore left shin, but Ramon Sessions helped pick up the slack with 17 points, including a 3-pointer that put the Lakers ahead by six with 26 seconds left. Andrew Bynum added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who snapped a two-game skid. Carl Landry had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Marco Belinelli scored 20 points for New Orleans, which led by as much...

Marc Gasol scored 18 points, Rudy Gay had 16, and the Grizzlies held on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 94-85, Monday night in Memphis. Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo added 13 each for the Grizzlies, who won for the eighth time in 10 games and moved one-half game behind the Clippers for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Chris Paul led Los Angeles with 21 points and six assists. Jazz 91, Spurs 84 - Devin Harris scored 25 points as host Utah halted San Antonio's 11-game winning streak and boosted its own playoff hopes.

Kobe Bryant needed 11 seconds to make his first basket, then he hit his second and a few minutes later another. No way was the Los Angeles Lakers' superstar going to struggle for a second straight game. Bryant finished with 40 points — his fifth such game this season — one night after missing his first 15 shots in a win over New Orleans, and Pau Gasol added 26 as the Lakers rallied for the second consecutive game against one of the West's worst teams, coming away with a 120-112 win over Golden State on Sunday night.

Kobe Bryant is back to being the closer. Two days after getting benched late in a home loss to Memphis, Bryant made a pair of jumpers in the final 64 seconds, finishing with 30 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers past the short-handed Golden State Warriors, 104-101 on Tuesday night. Bryant missed his first two shots in the final period before twice rising over a pair of defenders for difficult fall-away jumpers from the corner. The first tied the game and the second put the Lakers ahead by two — and for good — with 32 seconds remaining.