Lakers 110, Mavericks 82
Kobe Bryant scored 28 points and the Los Angeles Lakers moved closer to securing the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs by routing the visiting Dallas Mavericks 110-82 on Thursday.
Pau Gasol scored 20 points, Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Lamar Odom had 16 points and 11 rebounds as Los Angeles (54-20) won its eighth straight game and 16th in 17 contests since the All-Star break.
Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 13 rebounds for Dallas (53-22), which had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Odom scored 11 straight points on three 3-pointers and a layup as the Lakers stretched a nine-point lead late in the third quarter into a 90-70 advantage with 10:25 remaining in the game.
Ron Artest added 13 points for Los Angeles, which is now just 2 1/2 games behind slumping San Antonio for the top seed in the West.
Peja Stojakovic added 13 points for the Mavericks, who trailed just 54-51 at halftime before being outscored 56-31 in the second half.
Tensions between the teams escalated in fourth quarter when Dallas guard Jason Terry pushed Steve Blake to the ground after being called for a foul. Terry, Blake, Los Angeles forward Matt Barnes and Dallas center Brendan Haywood were all ejected in the ensuing scrum. Lakers swingman Shannon Brown was ejected later in the quarter.