Lakers fend off Hornets as Kobe sits on sidelines
New Orleans — Pau Gasol had 25 points and nine rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Kobe Bryant’s absence to beat the New Orleans Hornets 93-91 on Monday night.
Bryant missed his second straight game with a sore left shin, but Ramon Sessions helped pick up the slack with 17 points, including a 3-pointer that put the Lakers ahead by six with 26 seconds left. Andrew Bynum added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who snapped a two-game skid.
Carl Landry had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Marco Belinelli scored 20 points for New Orleans, which led by as much as eight points in the fourth quarter, before the Lakers stormed back.
Greivis Vasquez added 18 points and 11 assists for the Hornets, hitting a career-high five 3-pointers on six attempts. Chris Kaman had 16 points and five blocked shots.
Grizzlies 94,
Clippers 85
At Memphis, Marc Gasol scored 18 points and Rudy Gay had 16 as the Grizzlies held on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo added 13 each for Memphis, which won for the eighth time in 10 games and moved one-half game behind the Clippers for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Marreese Speights finished had 12 points and Zach Randolph added 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Grizzlies finished with a 48-36 rebounding edge, but committed 20 turnovers.
Chris Paul led Los Angeles with 21 points and six assists, while Blake Griffin had 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. DeAndre Jordan added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe and Randy Foye scored 11 points each.
Pacers 103,
Raptors 98
At Indianapolis, Danny Granger and George Hill scored 18 points each as Indiana took an early lead and held off Toronto.
Paul George had 15 points and Leandro Barbosa added 14 to help the Pacers — third in the Eastern Conference — win for the fourth time in their last five games.
Hill also had seven rebounds and four assists while making his first start of the season in place of the Darren Collison, who sat out with a groin injury sustained in Indiana’s loss to Boston on Saturday.
Linas Kleiza scored 18 points — all in the fourth quarter — as the Raptors tried to rally from a 15-point deficit at the start of the period. Alan Anderson had 13 of his 17 points in the third quarter and Amir Johnson finished with 16 for Toronto.
Thunder 109, Bucks 89
At Milwaukee, Russell Westbrook scored 26 points and Oklahoma City won its second straight, beating Milwaukee in a game that featured seven technical fouls and an ejection of Bucks backup forward Larry Sanders.
Sanders was ejected after earning a pair of technicals in the second half, while Mike Dunleavy, Brandon Jennings and coach Scott Skiles also were assessed technicals for Milwaukee. Oklahoma City’s Nazr Mohammed and Serge Ibaka also were called for technicals.
Kevin Durant added 19 for the Thunder, who broke a three-game losing streak with a victory over Toronto on Sunday. Oklahoma City came into Monday’s game trailing San Antonio by percentage points for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. OTHER RESULTS:Wizards 113, Bobcats 85; Magic 119, Pistons 89; Suns 114, Timberwolves 90; Nuggets 123, Warriors 84; Jazz 91, Spurs 84; Rockets 94, Trail Balzers 89. /ap
