Lakers 120, Knicks 109

January 29th, 2008, 10:00 pm · 1 Comment · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM

LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant found some teammates to love besides Andrew Bynum.

Bryant’s 11 assists turned into more than just a nice stat when Lamar Odom and Sasha Vujacic stepped into big shots down the stretch for a comeback victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night at Staples Center.

Odom had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Vujacic had 20 points in just 25 minutes. Bryant had 24 points.

The Lakers overcame New York’s 9-for-14 shooting from 3-point range with Odom and Kwame Brown firming up the interior defense down the stretch.

QUOTABLE

Phil Jackson, upon being told that Walt Frazier said Jackson encouraged Frazier to go out more while they were Knicks teammates, offered this: “Probably did. I was smoking a pipe back then.”

FARMAR TO VUJACIC

Jordan Farmar did well penetrating and pitching to Sasha Vujacic, who hit consecutive 3-pointers off Farmar passes after New York had built a 100-91 lead. Farmar had a career-high nine assists.

HIP POINTER

Luke Walton left the game after eight scoreless minutes with a hip pointer to his right leg. Although a hip pointer usually causes pain for weeks, Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala played three days after suffering his hip pointer earlier this month.

NEXT

Lakers at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Thursday, KCAL/9 (5:30 p.m.), KLAC/570

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