Kobe Bryant scored just 11 points on 4-of-19 shooting, but his teammates carried the Lakers to their 18th win in 19 home games in a remarkable fourth-quarter rally led almost entirely by reserves.Brown scored nine points in the fourth, while Lamar Odom and Jordan Farmar combined for 13 straight points while Los Angeles roared away in the opening minutes of the final period.
Dwight Howard had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, who wrapped up a four-game road trip with their third straight loss and seventh in nine games. The way Orlando lost was even more disconcerting, with a wildly up-and-down performance that bottomed out in the fourth, when the Magic didn’t manage a field goal for nearly six minutes.
Farmar scored 11 points and Odom had nine points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who reached the halfway point of their regular-season schedule with another win over the Magic, who fell to Los Angeles in five games in the finals last summer.
Momentum reversed abruptly throughout the night, with the Lakers dominating much of the first half before Orlando overwhelmed them in the third quarter with a 20-2 run, turning a nine-point deficit into a nine-point lead in less than 7 minutes.
Odom and Farmar then took charge entering the fourth quarter, erasing the Magic’s 68-64 lead. Gasol’s jumper put the Lakers up 79-68 with 7:42 left, and the Magic never got closer than four points on Vince Carter’s 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Other NBA results (home teams in CAPS): NY KNICKS 99, Detroit 91; WASHINGTON 97, Portland 92; Oklahoma City 94, ATLANTA 91; CHARLOTTE 105, Sacramento 103; HOUSTON 101, Milwaukee 98 (OT); LA CLIPPERS 106, New Jersey 95; MINNESOTA 108, Philadelphia 103 (OT); San Antonio 97, NEW ORLEANS 90; GOLDEN STATE 114, Chicago 97; MEMPHIS 125, Phoenix 118 and Dallas 99, BOSTON 90.
