Lakers cruise over Raptors

LOS ANGELES—Kobe Bryant spent the fourth quarter on the L.A. Lakers’ bench—content in watching the second unit blow the game open.
The last thing on his mind was Wilt Chamberlain.

This kind of trend—and attitude—has the defending Western Conference champions off to an NBA-best 14-1 record.
Pau Gasol had 24 points and nine rebounds, and Bryant had 23 points and a season-high seven assists, as the Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 112-99 last night for their seventh-straight victory.
“I think 10-5 would have been great with us, but we’ve been playing well enough to get that momentum,” Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson said. “Now we’re just playing on momentum most of the time.
“It’s human nature to get lackadaisical and for us to believe that things are going to go right for us because they have in the past,” he added. “But we are only successful in the moment.
“And you have to prove it again and again, especially in sports.”
Bryant came 15 points shy of reaching the 22,000-point mark faster than any other player. Had he done it, he would have beaten Chamberlain to that total by one day, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“To be honest, I don’t follow anything of that sort. I just go out there and do what I do,” Bryant said. “I don’t care about that stuff. You guys got me all wrong.
“I just play. I play hard, and I play the same way all the time,” he stressed. “I never concern myself with milestones or anything like that.”
Bryant spent the third quarter facilitating in the Lakers’ offensive scheme after leading them to a 61-51 halftime lead with 21 points. He was 1-for-3 with two points in his 11 minutes on the floor in the third, then became a spectator while Andrew Bynum and the Lakers’ reserves went on a 17-4 run that increased a six-point lead to 107-88 with 5:50 to play.
Bryant was the fastest to 12,000 and every level up to 20,000. The two-time scoring champion and 10-time all-star was the second-fastest to 21,000.
He averaged 48.5 points in the Lakers’ previous four home games against Toronto, including a staggering 81 on Jan. 22, 2006—the second-highest total in NBA history.
One reason Bryant has been so receptive to Jackson’s balanced-scoring mantra this season could be that the 13-year veteran no longer is missing a scoring title or an MVP trophy from his voluminous résumé.
“Kobe does have agendas at times that will come out,” Jackson said. “A couple of years ago when things didn’t go well, he went on that tear. So he could get into that.
“It’s a long season, but I hope he stays focused on what the overall plan is.”
Anthony Parker led Toronto with 19 points while five teammates also scored in double figures. Jermaine O’Neal missed his third-straight game because of a sprained left ankle.
The Lakers held leading scorer Chris Bosh to 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting.
“I know that good teams are not going to let me just get off offensively,” said Bosh, who came in averaging a career-best 27.7 points. “They did a great job of trapping and their rotations were really good.
“I didn’t get too many good shots all night and I made some costly turnovers,” Bosh added.
Elsewhere in the NBA yesterday, New Jersey beat Phoenix 117-109, Portland downed Detroit 96-85, Chicago bounced Philadelphia 103-92, and Denver upended Houston 104-94.