Lakers 100, Hornets 86
Kobe Bryant scored 30, Pau Gasol had 17 and Andrew Bynum added 14 points and 11 rebounds as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers earned a convincing 100-86 victory over New Orleans in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Friday night.
Game 4 is Sunday night in New Orleans as the Lakers will try to take a 3-1 lead.
Bryant made four 3-pointers, Gasol had 13 points in the second half - seven during a 10-1 run in the fourth quarter - and 10 total rebounds. Lamar Odom had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who have now taken six of seven over New Orleans this season.
Chris Paul led the Hornets with 22 on 9-for-13 shooting and had eight assists, but was a non-factor in the second half with four points. Carl Landry had 11 of his 22 points in the third, which the Hornets ended trailing only 75-68.
The Lakers used their size inside and 3-point shooting to pull away from the Hornets in the fourth. New Orleans shot just 2-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Trevor Ariza had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Emeka Okafor scored 15 for New Orleans, which only got nine points from its bench after averaging almost 30 during the regular season and pouring in 39 during its Game 1 victory.