33-year-old Kobe Bryant 40pts vs Utah Jazz 11/12 NBA *Back-to-back 40pts game

Andrew Bynum wasn't on the court the first time the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Utah Jazz.

He made his presence felt Wednesday night, with five blocked shots, including a game-saver on Al Jefferson's short jumper with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime as the Lakers held on for a 90-87 victory.

Kobe Bryant scored 40 points to lead the Lakers, including a pair of free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining for the final margin.

Millsap then scored the first four points of overtime, but the Lakers fought back, with 3-pointers by Bryant and Pau Gasol.

"Pau's got a green light to shoot the 3," Brown said. "As you can tell, guys trust him. Kobe made a pass to him late in the game at a crucial point. To see him step and knock it down was huge for us."

Seven-foot Bynum came up even bigger.

He made just 5 of 13 shots, but his tip-in with 51 seconds left in OT put the Lakers ahead 88-87.

Millsap brought the Jazz within one, then after Bryant's miss, the Jazz found themselves with a chance to win.

Gordon Hayward had the ball and started toward the lane, only to pass it to Jefferson underneath.

Bynum was there.

"It was just a reaction," Bynum said about his block. "I'm lucky he went for the quick flip."

Hayward said he thought about shooting it himself.

"The clock's winding down, a final scramble and we didn't know what was going on," Hayward said. "There were 8 seconds left, so I got to make a play. Maybe I could have shot a 1-2 pullup, but I thought it was the right play, the right pass. We got a good look. Bynum just made a good play."

Bryant would block a long 3-point attempt by Devin Harris as the Jazz inbounded with 0.7 seconds remaining in OT.

The win was the first on the road for the Lakers (8-4), while Utah (6-4) is 5-1 at home.

"It felt good to get a road win here," Bryant said. "It's a very tough place to play and it was a huge test for us."

But even he wasn't so sure Gasol could knock down the 22-footer from the corner.

"Pau's been shooting them well in practice and Coach has been urging me to trust him at the 3-point line," Bryant said. "I thought about passing it to him, it seemed like an eternity. But I said, 'What the hell.'

"You think Tebow prays? When that ball left his hand, I must have said 30 Hail Mary's."

Gasol finished with 14 points. He was just 5 of 14 overall, but hit his only 3-point attempt -- his first of the season.

"Tonight was not a very effective game on our part, for the most part," Gasol said. "But we continued to fight through it. We forgot about everything else and we made two big plays down the stretch with the put-back and the block and I was able to make a couple plays. Hopefully we'll get the bodies that we have injured right now and it will give us a deeper rotation."

If the Lakers were celebrating a little more than usual, they say they earned the right.



"Andrew kind of made of his own coverage on Al and we tried to keep telling him to get out of it," Lakers coach Mike Brown said. "But he didn't listen to us and whatever he did, worked. So I'm going to add it to my defensive package."

Jefferson, who was coming off a season-high 30-point effort against Cleveland on Tuesday, was held to 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

Paul Millsap led the Jazz with a season-high 29 points, hitting 14 of 24 shots.

The loss was the first at home for the Jazz this season and halted their five-game winning streak.

The Lakers embarrassed the Jazz in Utah's season-opener, winning by 25 even without Bynum on Dec. 27.

This one was close throughout, with Millsap's tip-in tying it at 78 with 21 seconds left in regulation.

Bryant, coming of a 48-point game Tuesday night at home against Phoenix, missed a shot at the buzzer that would have won it in regulation for Los Angeles.

• Category

  Sports

[DVDR786]

Damn yall actin like 33 years old old as hell smh lol

[IlixoxilI]

I don't like the Lakers all that much but Kobe is pretty much fkin amazing. When he is on - it is over.

[trance6969trance]

Buddy, Kobes scored 48 in a game this season. Hes shooting one of the best fg% of his career. He averaged 30 point 7 rebounds and 7 assists in april fulfilling his promise of leading the lakers to the playoffs!!! and he made that promise with one of the worst records in the NBA. Not to mention 26 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists in March to go alone with countless clutch shots and game winners. Kobe on decline still better then anybody.. 6th ring 2014 Lakers!!!

[Cherryll Tayao]

Well it is old for nba its like the declining years compare hes 2010 yr below season and u know hes game decline

[jamal shirzad]

hey look mike brown smiled!



[ahsoely saef]

I KNOW I CAN'T WAIT IM GOING SEE HIM WED. THIS WEEK

[IsaDRayM]

He was in his 16th season here

[SummerAwe99]

correction - when hes on and has a dominant 7 foot centre its over. because when kobe doesnt have a dominant centre and scores 45 his team still gets dominated - that shows that he can never win by himself.,

[EPlTAPHE]

That makes no sense, go home.

[SummerAwe99]

he must be off a lot

[Archangel323]

trying to start a debate here ain't you, little piece of shit.