Lakers 98, Hornets 80
Kobe Bryant scored 24 points and Andrew Bynum added 18 and 12 rebounds as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers finished off the New Orleans Hornets with a 98-80 victory Thursday in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round series.
The second-seeded Lakers will face the winner of the Dallas-Portland series, which the Mavericks will try to wrap up later Thursday.
With Bynum grabbing eight offensive rebounds, Los Angeles again dominated the boards, 41-30. The Lakers also forced Hornets star guard Chris Paul into his worst offensive game of the playoffs.
Paul came in averaging 24.4 points and 11.6 rebounds but was held to a series-low 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and committed five turnovers. He had 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Pau Gasol scored 16 points and Lamar Odom had 14, eight rebounds and four assists for the Lakers, whose reserves held a 30-21 scoring edge.
Bryant scored 13 points and Gasol 10 in the third quarter as Los Angeles widened a six-point halftime lead to 69-57 entering the final period. The Lakers led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter.
Carl Landry scored 19 points and Trevor Ariza added 12 for the seventh-seeded Hornets, who were just 3-for-14 from 3-point range.