Hobbling Kobe sends Lakers past Mave
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Kobe Bryant shook off an ankle sprain and the Los Angeles Lakers relied on their big men to beat the Dallas Mavericks 96-91 in a showdown of two of the Western Conference's top teams on Saturday.
Bryant, who had an off-night shooting, landed awkwardly on his left ankle in the third quarter and left the game.
He returned in the fourth quarter and hit a fadeaway jumper and two free throws to finish with 16 points as the Lakers (47-20) moved to within a half-game of the Mavericks in the West.
"I thought I was done, like done," Bryant told reporters. "I was just praying that when I stood up, my foot was lined up straight. I thought I dislocated it.
"Even though it looks horrible, I can still push off on it," said Bryant, who made only six of 20 shots.
"We'll just have to watch it the next few days," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.
Elsewhere in the National Basketball Association, it was: Bulls 118, Jazz 100; Hornets 115, Kings 103; Heat 118, Grizzlies 85; Hawks 91, Trail Blazers 82; Clippers 122, Wizards 101; Bucks 102, 76ers 74; Nuggets 131, Pistons 101; and Spurs 115, Rockets 107.
In Dallas, center Andrew Bynum muscled his way for 22 points and 15 rebounds to help the Lakers win for the ninth time in 10 games.
"We knew that Drew (Bynum) was going to be effective tonight," Jackson said after his 600th win with Los Angeles.
Pau Gasol added 18 points and Ron Artest had 12 for the Lakers.
Only four other coaches - Jerry Sloan (Utah Jazz), Red Auerbach (Boston Celtics), Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs) and Red Holzman (New York Knicks) - have won as many games with one franchise as Jackson (600-287). He also won 545 games with the Chicago Bulls from 1989-98.
Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion both had 25 points for second-place Dallas, but the Mavericks (47-19) could not overcome Los Angeles' six-point halftime lead.
Dallas, which won this season's first meeting with Los Angeles, got within two on Marion's dunk with 24.9 seconds remaining but the Lakers scored the next five points to seal the victory. "Every time we were right there, we just never got to the hump," Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle said.
The Mavericks now trail the conference-leading Spurs by seven games with the Lakers closing in fast.
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