NBA Game Summary - Washington at LA Lakers

12.17.2005

Los Angeles, CA (Basketball News) - Kobe Bryant poured in 41 points and grabbed eight rebounds, as the Los Angeles Lakers returned from a successful road trip and defeated the Washington Wizards, 97-91, at Staples Center.

Lamar Odom notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Devean George tallied 13 points for the Lakers, who have won seven of their last eight games.

"When you run this offense right you usually get what you want," said Odom. "Kobe never surprises me. You can sometimes put three guys on him and he’ll make the shot."

Gilbert Arenas scored 29 points and Caron Butler contributed 20 points for the Wizards, who have lost four of their last five games.

Antawn Jamison scored 12 points and Brendan Haywood added 10 in the loss.

Smush Parker’s jumper with about 2 1/2 minutes left gave Los Angeles a 88-83 edge. After Etan Thomas made 1-of-2 free throws, Odom scored inside to increase the advantage to 90-84.

Butler made a difficult driving layup to cut the lead to four. Bryant drained 1-of-2 from the charity stripe on the next possession, and Jamison scored on the other end to make it a one-possession game, 91-88 with 1:09 left.

Kwame Brown and Bryant each made 1-of-2 from the line to make the score 93-88. Arenas converted a three-point play on the other end to trim the deficit to 93-91. Then, the Lakers threw the inbounds pass long to George for a layup and Arenas’ three-point attempt was blocked to seal the Wizards’ fate.

"We had opportunities to take control," said Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan. "We just missed a lot of opportunities. They made big plays and we couldn’t come up with the big play."

Washington held a 22-19 lead after the first quarter.

After Los Angeles jumped out to a 30-24 advantage, the Wizards went on a 21-9 scoring streak to take a six-point lead.

Trailing 37-26, Antonio Daniels made a jumper and Arenas made two free throws. Then, after Bryant scored inside, Arenas made a trey and Jamison converted on a layup to give Washington a 45-39 lead. The Wizards took a 47-42 lead into the locker room.

The Lakers led 70-66 after three quarters.

The Lakers have won eight of the last 11 meetings...Los Angeles is 3-0 this season versus the Southeast Division...The Lakers shot 47.2 percent from the floor and held a 46-31 edge on the glass...Washington shot just 34.2 percent from the floor, but did convert on 33-of-37 from the charity stripe...Washington guard Jarvis Hayes (knee) left in the first quarter and did not return.

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