LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant had a relatively quiet game with 29 points and it was still enough to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 97-88 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers last night.
The Lakers' Lamar Odom had 18 points and eight rebounds before fouling out in the final minute. Smush Parker added 11 points as the Lakers downed their Staples Center co-tenants for the second time in less than two weeks.
Bryant scored 40 in the first win over the Clippers.
Cuttino Mobley and Elton Brand had 17 points apiece in the loss. Sam Cassell scored 16 for the Clippers, who were beaten for the sixth time in their last seven games.
Bryant was coming off a 52-point performance in a victory over Utah on Thursday night, when he went 19-of-26 in a rout of the Jazz.
He was 11-of-23 against the Clippers.
The Lakers were up 69-64 heading into the fourth quarter, an Andrew Bynum layup with 17 seconds left giving them their five-point edge.
The Clippers, down 49-41 early in the third period, took the lead at 60-59 on Mobley's three-pointer with 3:33 left in the quarter, but Bryant hit a running jumper shortly afterward to put the Lakers back in front.
They stayed there.
The Clippers were the home team, so the floor with their logo was installed over the ice at the arena, where the NHL's Anaheim Ducks had beaten the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 a few hours earlier.
The loss on their home court was just the second in nine games this season for the Clippers, who are 0-6 on the road.
Brand had 10 points in the first half, including eight in the opening quarter to top the scoring for both teams and help the Clippers to a 22-20 lead at the end of the period. Bryant and Parker had seven points each for the Lakers.
The loudest cheer of the first half was for the Clippers' Shaun Livingston, who leaped high to swat away a shot by Bryant as he drove to the basket in the opening quarter.
Livingston finished with two blocks and eight points.
The Lakers lead the all-time series 138-43, but the teams split the season series each of the past two years.
