Bryant, Lakers barely beat Wizards 106-104

WASHINGTON(AP) On a poor shooting night, Kobe Bryant came through when the Los Angeles Lakers needed him the most. And then he nearly blew it about 10 seconds later.

Bryant banked in a running 12-foot jumper over Caron Butler with 25 seconds left Friday night, then went 1-for-2 on foul shots 10 seconds later, but the best-in-the-West Lakers eked out a 106-104 victory over the worst-in-the-East Washington Wizards.

After Bryant's miss at the line - he made all 13 other free throws he took - Butler had a chance to win it for Washington, but missed a 3-point attempt shortly before the buzzer.

Bryant was 5-for-17 from the field and finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Butler led the Wizards with 26 points.

Treated again to "M-V-P!'' chants on the road, Bryant was resting on the sideline for much of the fourth quarter as his team allowed what was once a 20-point lead to dwindle.

And dwindle. And dwindle. With Butler leading the charge.

His jumper with about 4 minutes left capped a 12-0 run that pulled the Wizards within 99-92. Later, Butler assisted on Andray Blatche's dunk that made it 103-98 with just under 2 minutes left. Butler's two free throws got Washington to 103-100 a half-minute later, and his 9-foot pull-up jumper made it a one-point game.

But that's when Bryant responded by sinking his lone field goal of the fourth quarter, then skipping to the Lakers' sideline at the ensuing timeout. Blatche's tip-in got Washington back within a point, and Bryant was immediately fouled.

Bryant had plenty of help. Andrew Bynum delivered a season-high 19 points, along with 10 rebounds, and Pau Gasol had 17 points and 10 rebounds - part of a half-dozen Lakers who scored in double figures.

Blatche had 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Antawn Jamison added 14 points and 12 rebounds.

While the Lakers improved to 16-2, the Wizards fell to 3-14 for the first time since the 1966-67 season, when they were known as the Baltimore Bullets.

Notes: Lakers coach Phil Jackson said four of his players - Bryant, Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza - have a competition going to see who can accumulate the most steals this season. Jackson isn't necessarily thrilled, noting that Bryant sometimes "comes away empty-handed, which compromises our defense.'' ... Wizards interim coach Ed Tapscott avoided a direct answer to a question about when PG Gilbert Arenas (left knee surgery) might return to action. "He seems to be doing well. He's in each day. We chat. We're getting together,'' Tapscott said. "When the time is right to write the script for his return, to put together a plan; we're not at that point.'' ... The Wizards wore throwback jerseys from the 1962-63 Chicago Zephyrs; that was the franchise's last season in that city before moving to Baltimore. Player reviews were mixed. ... Tapscott spoke pregame about how a game's outcome often depends simply on which team has a player who happens to be on a roll that particular day. "I constantly use this mantra: It's not plays that win games, it's players,'' Tapscott said. "It's not Xs-and-Os, it's Jimmy-and-Joes.''

A last-second shot has provided the only bump in the road of late for the Los Angeles Lakers.

It's doubtful the Washington Wizards will provide another Friday at the Verizon Center.

The Lakers (15-2) come into this game having won eight of their last nine. The only loss in that span came Tuesday at Indiana when the Pacers' Troy Murphy hit a tip-in at the buzzer to hand Los Angeles a 118-117 defeat.

The Lakers rebounded Wednesday with a 114-102 win in Philadelphia as Kobe Bryant scored 32 against his hometown team and Pau Gasol had 22 points and 13 rebounds.

Bryant has averaged 29.5 points in the last four games to move to fourth in the NBA in scoring (25.1). He has also hit 55.6 percent of his shots from the field in that time, including a 12-for-20 performance against the 76ers.

"If Kobe shoots the ball that well, we're going to have a good winning percentage because he's going to take most of the shots," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

Like Bryant, Andrew Bynum has also increased his scoring and field goal percentage over the last four games. Bynum has averaged 17.8 points in that span and shot 60.0 percent from the field. He scored 18 against Philadelphia, hitting seven of his 11 shots.

After Wednesday's game, Bynum moved to 12th in the league in field goal percentage at 54.8 percent, two spots behind Gasol's 55.6.

It was Gasol's third straight game with 20 or more points, but his first with double-digit rebounds since Nov. 14.

Bryant now gets a chance to face the Wizards (3-13), a team he's recently tormented. The future Hall of Famer has averaged 35.3 points, shot 50.0 percent from the field and 45.5 from 3-point range in the last six meetings.

The Lakers have allowed opponents to score 102.4 points per game in their last 10, but that hasn't proved a problem because Los Angeles has averaged 111.5.

Washington isn't one of the better scoring teams in the league. The Wizards took a two-point lead in the fourth quarter Wednesday against visiting Portland, but couldn't hold on in a 98-92 loss, their third defeat in the last four games.

"Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades, you know?" Wizards interim coach Ed Tapscott said. "So we've got to close the deal."

Antawn Jamison led Washington with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting Wednesday and has led the team over the past seven games with 24.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and 55.2 percent shooting from the field.

Jamison, who tops the Wizards with 9.3 rebounds per game, has not shined in recent meetings with the Lakers. In the last nine games, Jamison has scored 16.2 points, shot 41.0 percent from the field and grabbed 7.3 rebounds.

Former Laker Caron Butler leads the Wizards in scoring at 21.3 points per game, but hasn't fared well against his former team lately. Butler has shot 32.0 percent from the field in the last three meetings and averaged 15.7 points.

The Lakers have won three straight over Washington but have split the last six meetings at the Verizon Center.

Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

The Lakers swept last season’s series with Washington 2-0 after splitting each of the previous two season series with the Wizards 1-1. This will be the 173rd meeting between the two franchises with the Lakers leading the all-time series 109-63. Over the past 30 years, the Lakers have only lost two season series to Washington (1975- 76; 1-3 and 2004-05; 0-2). The Lakers are 6-4 in their last 10 games with the Wizards overall and are and 5-5 in their last 10 meetings with the Wizards in Washington. At STAPLES Center, the Lakers are 7-2 all-time against the Wizards and 8-2 in their last 10 home games against Washington overall. Under head coach Phil Jackson, Los Angeles is 12-4 against Washington. On December 17, 2006 at STAPLES Center, Gilbert Arenas and Kobe Bryant became only the seventh pair of opponents to put up 60-plus points and 45-plus points in the same game. In that game, Arenas became just the 8th player to score 60+ points against the Lakers while establishing a series record for points. Bryant’s Los Angeles series record 55 points against Washington came against the Michael Jordan-led Wizards in March of 2003 at STAPLES Center. In 20 career games including 16 starts, Bryant is averaging 25.9 points against Washington. Wizards forward Caron Butler played the 2004-05 season with the Lakers, averaging 15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.43 steals in 77 games. Additionally, Luke Walton and Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas played collegiately together at the University of Arizona. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak was a member of the 1977-78 Washington Bullets NBA Championship team.

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BRYANT BECOMES 22nd EVER TO 22,000 POINTS (2nd YOUNGEST, 12th FASTEST IN TERMS OF GAMES)
With 28 points December 2 at Indiana, Kobe Bryant became the 22nd player in NBA history to score 22,000 points and in doing so, became the second youngest player ever to 22,000 points (30 years, 101 days), one day older than Wilt Chamberlain (30 years, 100 days) who scored his 22,000th point on 11/26/66. The next youngest to 22,000 points were Oscar Robertson (31 years, 117 days) on 3/21/70 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31 years, 350 days) on 4/1/79. The youngest player in league history to accumulate 12,000 - 20,000 career points, Bryant became the 12th fastest to 22,000 points in terms of games, reaching the mark in 881 career games. Through his career, Bryant has been the 29th fastest to 15,000, the 22nd fastest to 16,000, the 20th fastest to 17,000, the 16th fastest to 18,000, the 15th fastest to 19,000, the 15th fastest to 20,000 and the 12th fastest to 21,000 points in terms of games. Earlier this season, with 29 points November 14 against Detroit, Kobe Bryant moved past both Larry Bird and Gary Payton on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Bryant (22,013) now trails Clyde Drexler (22,195) for 21st on the all-time list. Bryant, now in his 13th NBA season, passed Bird in his 874th career game. Bird reached 21,791 points in 897 career games over 13 seasons while Payton reached 21,813 points in 1,335 games over 17 NBA seasons. Last season, Bryant became the 25th player in NBA history to score 21,000 points and in doing so, became the second youngest player ever to 21,000 points (29 years, 194 days) and second ever under the age of 30 behind Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 184 days). Michael Jordan was the third youngest to 21,000 (30 years, 40 days). Earlier in the season, Bryant, at 29 years, 122 days, became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points and the third player ever to reach 20,000 points under the age of 30, ranking ahead of Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 134 days) and Michael Jordan (29 years, 326 days).

STRONG STARTS
At 14-2, the Lakers are off to their best start to a season through 16 games since 2001-02 when Los Angeles began the year with a 16-1 record, the most wins ever accrued by the Lakers before their second loss. The Lakers best undefeated start to a season came in 1997-98 when they opened the year a franchise record 11-0 and ran their record to 12-1 before losing their second game. In all, the Lakers have been 14-1 through 15 games TWICE in franchise history including this season - 2008-09: 14-1 and 2001-02: 16-1. Phil Jackson led teams have now won at least 14 games before their second loss on three occasions, once with the Chicago Bulls and now twice with the Lakers - 2008-09: 14-1, 2001-02: 16-1, 1996-97: 17-1. With their 95-106 loss to Detroit November 14, the Lakers suffered their first defeat of the 2008-09 season. The loss snapped a seven-game win streak that was the team’s longest to start a season since opening the 2001-02 season 7-0. Only twice in franchise history had the Lakers started the season with a better mark, going a franchisebest 11-0 to open the 1997-98 campaign and 8-0 to start the 1987-88 season. This was the second time under head coach Phil Jackson that the Lakers have opened the season 7-0 (2008-09, 2001-02). Only once has a Jackson-led team opened the season with a better record, with the 1996-97 Bulls going 12-0 to begin the season.

JACKSON NAMED WESTERN CONFERENCE COACH OF THE MONTH
On December 1, Phil Jackson was named Western Conference Coach of the Month for October/November 2008. The award is Jackson’s fourth Western Conference Coach of the Month honor and second consecutive Western Conference Coach of the Month award as he won for games played in April 2008 as well. Jackson also won back-to-back awards for October/November 2003 and April 2003. Jackson led the Lakers to an NBA-best 14-1 (.933) mark during October and November. The Lakers are the lone one-loss team remaining in the league and boast an 11-0 record in Western Conference play. Prior to these honors, Jackson was last named Coach of the Month in November of 2001 before the award was divided by conference.