A balanced attack led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 120-110 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre, the fifth straight win for Los Angeles. The Lakers ended their road trip with a 6-1 record, winning their final four contest by 10 or more points, and now head home for an extended period. All 10 players for the Lakers played at least 14 minutes, and the bench scored 57 points in the game.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 20 points, giving him 26,514 points for his career. He passed Hakeem Olajuwon for third place on the list of most NBA points scored with one team. Kobe now trails only Karl Malone (36,374 points with Utah) and Michael Jordan (29,277 points with Chicago) in this regard. Bryant has led the Lakers in scoring in 19 of 28 games this season.
Andrew Bynum had his best game of the season, in his fourth game back from knee surgery. The center poured in 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in just 18 minutes. Pau Gasol added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers. Matt Barnes led the Lakers with nine rebounds, to go along with his 12 points off the bench in 28 minutes.
The Lakers shot 51.9% in the game, and made 31 of 39 free throws. The Lakers out-rebounded the Raptors, 46-35. The Lakers didn't play much defense in the second half, allowing 61 points, but their offensive efficiency made up for it. For the game, the Lakers averaged 1.22 points per possession, compared to 1.12 points per possession for Toronto. Linas Kleiza led Toronto with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Jose Calderon scored 20 points and dished out 12 assists.
The Lakers return home to play Milwaukee on Tuesday night. That is their only game before hosting the surging Miami Heat on Christmas Day in a nationally televised game on ABC.
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