Lakers outlast Timberwolves

Pau Gasol (left) and Lamar Odom block Al Jefferson's shot as Minnesota lost its ninth straight. (MARK J. TERRILL/Associated Press)

Kobe Bryant had 26 points and five assists, and the Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves, 98-86, last night in Los Angeles.

Pau Gasol had 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists, Andrew Bynum added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Trevor Ariza scored 14 points for the Lakers.

The win was the 13th in 14 games for the Lakers, whose 20-3 record is the second-best in the NBA behind the Celtics' 22-2 mark, but it wasn't very impressive. The Lakers won despite being outrebounded, 53-46. They forced 17 turnovers while committing 10 themselves and shot 44.7 percent to Minnesota's 36.1 percent.

Al Jefferson had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead Minnesota. Craig Smith added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Ryan Gomes scored 13 for the Timberwolves (4-19), who lost their ninth straight game and fourth in a row since Kevin McHale took over as coach last Monday.

The Timberwolves trailed, 76-70, before a basket by Ariza and 4 straight points by Bryant gave the Lakers a 12-point lead with 4 1/2 minutes remaining. Minnesota didn't threaten after that.

The Timberwolves have the NBA's second-worst record and are 2-10 on the road, but they led 57-54 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter after scoring 8 straight points. But a 3-pointer by Bryant, a basket by Lamar Odom, and 5 straight points by Luke Walton gave the Lakers a 7-point lead, and they were on top the rest of the way.

Hornets 99, Raptors 91 - David West scored 29 points, James Posey added 20, including six 3-pointers, and visiting New Orleans beat Toronto for the Hornets' eighth win in 10 games.

Rasual Butler had 16 points, and Chris Paul added 12 points and 12 assists for the Hornets, who went 12 for 33 from 3-point range. New Orleans leads the NBA in 3-point shooting.

Chris Bosh had 25 points, and Jose Calderon scored 22 for Toronto on 8-for-8 shooting. Calderon also made his only free throw and has hit 59 consecutive dating to last season.

Jermaine O'Neal added 19 points for the Raptors, who were shooting for their first three-game winning streak since a 3-0 start.

Bosh made two free throws to make it 94-89 with 1:24 left, but Butler put in his third 3-pointer of the quarter to build New Orleans' lead back up to 8.

Spurs 109, Thunder 104 - Tony Parker scored 22 points, and Tim Duncan had 20 points and 12 rebounds to help host San Antonio hold off Oklahoma City and win its seventh straight game.

Matt Bonner added 17 points and Roger Mason had 14 for the Spurs. They combined to make five 3-pointers in the first quarter when the Spurs took a 21-point lead that they pushed to 26 in the second quarter.

The Thunder began their comeback late in the second quarter. They cut the Spurs' lead to 3 points (100-97) with 2:02 left on Kevin Durant's spinning layup. Durant (28 points) made it 106-104 with another spinning layup with 30 seconds to go.

Manu Ginobili put the Spurs ahead, 109-104, with a 3-point play with 28 seconds left.

Jeff Green (33 points) missed a 3-pointer and the Spurs dribbled out the clock.

Grizzlies 102, Heat 86 - O.J. Mayo scored 28 points and Rudy Gay added 18 to help host Memphis win its fourth straight game, the Grizzlies' longest winning streak since the final five games of the 2005-06 season.

Michael Beasley led Miami with 20 points. Dwyane Wade had 17 on 5-of-16 shooting.

Dwyane Wade, who entered averaging a league-best 29.1 points, had his second straight subpar game. He scored 17 on 5-of-16 shooting after making 9 of 24 attempts in the Heat's loss to Atlanta Friday.