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AP
PHOENIX - Kobe Bryant can score all the points he wants as far as the Phoenix Suns are concerned, as long as they come away with the victory.
Bryant’s 51 points weren’t enough to keep the Suns from beating the Los Angeles Lakers for the seventh time in a row, 107-96, on Friday night in a matchup of potential first-round playoff opponents.
Steve Nash had 25 points and eight assists but was on the bench when the Suns pulled away with an 18-4 run to start the fourth quarter after Los Angeles had closed to within one.
The Suns pulled six games ahead of the second-place Los Angeles Clippers in the Pacific Division with seven to play. The Lakers, meanwhile, dropped into a tie with Sacramento for the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference.
Bryant, who made 19-of-33 shots, broke the U.S. Airways Center record of 50 held by Amare Stoudemire and Cliff Robinson. The former America West Arena opened in 1992.
“You feel like if he’s taking all those shots, the other guys aren’t really scoring,” Nash said. “We don’t feel like if he has a huge night, that we can’t win, that’s for sure.”
Only two players have scored more against the Suns — Wilt Chamberlain with 66 for the Lakers on Feb. 9, 1969, and Michael Jordan with 53 for Chicago on Jan. 21, 1989.
“Oh yeah?” Bryant said. “That’s pretty good company — excellent company.”
Raja Bell, the Suns’ best perimeter defender, is obviously no friend of Bryant. The two didn’t shake hands before the game and never acknowledge each other, let alone speak.
“If I can keep him preoccupied with trying to beat me 1-on-1, then there are four other guys out there who aren’t getting shots,” Bell said. “That plays into our hands because we’re going to get points. So if he gets 50 and the rest of the guys don’t get enough to beat us, I did my job.”
Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Bryant was motivated after a lackluster game against Bell the last time in Phoenix.
“At some level, it’s remarkable,” Jackson said of Bryant’s 93 points on consecutive nights. “At another level, it limits us, it hackles us a little bit because other players don’t get in the flow, and they didn’t get in the flow tonight.”
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Bryant, though, refused to say anything about Bell.
“I’ve got bigger fish to fry than Raja Bell,” he said. “Are you kidding?”
Bryant drew his 14th technical of the season in a run-in with Bell. Two more technicals and Bryant would have to serve a one-game suspension, although the Lakers may ask that this one be rescinded.
“That was a ridiculous technical foul,” Jackson said. “He didn’t say anything. I don’t understand the refereeing in this league if that’s going to be a technical foul.”
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
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