Lakers 97, Cavaliers 92
Kobe Bryant scored 42, his third consecutive game with at least 40 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers won their eighth straight home game, 97-92 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.
Bryant had 24 first-half points on 9-of-13 shooting and made 3 of 4 3-pointers. He cooled in the second half and finished 15 of 31 and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.
Pau Gasol had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Andrew Bynum scored 15 and had 11 boards for the Lakers (9-4). Matt Barnes scored 15 and Derek Fisher had 10 assists.
Rookie Kyrie Irving scored 21 for the Cavaliers (5-6). Anderson Varejao added 14 rebounds and 11 points, Ramon Sessions had 12 points and Omri Casspi 11.
The Lakers outscored the Cavaliers 27-13 in the second quarter for a 59-41 halftime lead. Led by Bryant, they shot 65 percent (24 of 37) in the first half. But he didn't score until 5:37 in the third and the Cavalier drew to 71-63.
Los Angeles seemed to be going through the motions early in the fourth, and Cleveland got to within 82-79 on a jumper by Sessions and Alonzo Gee's free throw.
The Lakers made enough free throws to hold off the Cavaliers, who had a 36-4 advantage in bench scoring.