LOS ANGELES(AP) Kobe Bryant scored 23 points, Pau Gasol added 21 and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-90 Friday night, becoming the first NBA team to reach 50 victories.

Bryant and Gasol both went 5-for-5 from the line and Gasol grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds as the Lakers won their sixth in a row at home and beat the Wolves for the eighth consecutive time.

Ryan Gomes scored 20 points and rookie Kevin Love added 18 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota, which dropped its eighth in a row and fell to 10-20 on the road. Sebastian Telfair had 18 points after missing the last two games with a sore right groin.

Bryant's work was done after three quarters, when the Lakers led by 18. That allowed him to lead the cheers from the bench. He was up on his feet when DJ Mbenga came up with a huge block of Rodney Carney midway through the fourth. Shannon Brown's one-handed dunk brought the entire bench onto the floor.

The Lakers' second unit played the final period, giving them valuable experience and the coaching staff a chance to assess their skills ahead of the playoffs.

The Wolves outscored Los Angeles 9-2 behind five points by Love to open the third quarter, leaving them trailing 49-45. That's as close as Minnesota came over the final three periods. The Wolves shot just 33 percent for the game.

Bryant's jumper sparked a 28-14 run to end the quarter and send the Lakers into the final 12 minutes leading 77-59. Gasol had nine points and Derek Fisher seven in the spurt. But Bryant triggered two of the highlight moments.

He made consecutive 3-pointers, the second off a steal of Shelden Williams' bad pass, before Josh Powell's tip-in on a play that began with Fisher's steal of Gomes' bad pass. That sequence put the Lakers ahead by 21.

Bryant sat down for good with 1:53 left in the quarter.

Bryant's second basket of the game late in the second quarter allowed him to pass Robert Parish for 18th on the NBA's career scoring list, and he now has 23,354 points. Parish achieved his 23,334 points over 21 seasons, while Bryant is in his 12th year.

When the feat was announced coming out of a timeout, Bryant stuck his right hand in the air to acknowledge the standing ovation and fan chants of "MVP!''

He was mostly quiet until the final 5 1/2 minutes of the period, when Bryant scored the final 13 points to keep the Lakers ahead 47-36 at halftime.

The Lakers swept the Wolves 4-0 for the second consecutive season and are 10-1 in the teams' last 11 meetings.

Notes: Minnesota starter Randy Foye sat out with a hip pointer sustained in practice Wednesday. "Kevin Love tried to take a charge on me and I fell on top of him,'' Foye said. "His elbow hit my hip. I finished practicing, but it was real sore and clicking.'' ... F Sun Yue, sent down by the Lakers to their D-League team earlier Friday to get more playing time, had 11 points and seven assists in the D-Fenders' 108-103 victory over the Anaheim Arsenal. ... Former UCLA star Love was a popular draw in his third trip back to Los Angeles this season. The NBA rookie sat courtside at the Bruins' game Thursday night and signed autographs for early arriving fans on Friday. Being on a losing team for the first time in his career is tough, he said, adding, "It's been something I've had to adjust to.'' ... Brazilian soccer star Marta, who will play on LA's team in the new women's pro league, sat courtside. Behind her was former Laker and Chicago Bulls player Ron Harper.

Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson gave his team Wednesday off to recover from a busy stretch of games. The Lakers appear to be getting another break in their schedule Friday night, hosting a Minnesota Timberwolves team sinking toward the Western Conference basement.

While the Lakers look for their sixth straight win at Staples Center, the Timberwolves are going for just their third victory since late January.

Los Angeles (49-12) avoided losing three consecutive games for the first time all season with a 99-89 home win over Memphis on Tuesday night, finishing a stretch of nine games in 15 days since the All-Star break.

"The focus was just about coming out and playing the right way and winning the game," Kobe Bryant said after scoring 31 points. "You don't want to compound mistakes or add to losses - two was enough."

Prior to Tuesday's game, the reigning MVP averaged 39.0 points in back-to-back losses at Denver and Phoenix.

Bryant is scoring 30.4 points per game as the Lakers have won seven straight against Minnesota, including three this season.

Lamar Odom keyed Los Angeles' most recent win in the series with 25 points and 14 rebounds in a 111-108 victory at Minnesota on Feb. 22.

That game exemplified how Odom has played a key role since the team lost center Andrew Bynum to a torn MCL on Jan. 31. Odom has started the last 15 games in place of Bynum but has struggled with his shot lately.

The veteran forward has averaged 6.0 points on 26.7 percent shooting in his last three games. Odom hit 1-of-8 from the field and matched a season low with two points Tuesday, but he also had 13 rebounds, eight assists and a season-high six blocks.

"That's what he does well for us and that's what we need from him," Bryant said. "He does a lot of the intangibles, and some of the stuff he does doesn't even show up in the box score. He's been playing extremely well."

While the Lakers have been able to overcome the injury to Bynum, Minnesota (18-42) has not recovered from the loss of their emerging young center.

The Timberwolves are 1-9 without leading scorer Al Jefferson and have dropped their last seven, including the past five by an average of 16.0 points since their narrow loss to the Lakers. They are 11th in the West but have fallen within six games of conference-worst Sacramento.

Tuesday's 118-94 home loss to Golden State was one of their worst. The Timberwolves trailed by as many as 31 points in the first half against a Warriors team that had dropped 11 of 12 on the road.

"That's as bad as you can play and there's no excuses for that," said Minnesota coach Kevin McHale, whose team is 2-15 since a 90-83 win at Milwaukee on Jan. 26. "That's my fault. The guys weren't ready to play and that falls on me."

Former UCLA star Kevin Love returns to Los Angeles after posting his 17th double-double of the season with 18 points and 14 boards. The fifth overall pick in last year's draft is averaging 12.6 points and 9.7 rebounds since being inserted into the starting lineup Feb. 4.

Minnesota has lost 27 of its last 31 road games versus the Lakers, including five in a row since Dec. 2, 2005.