NBA

Kobe, Jones lead Lakers past Magic

Balanced scoring overcomes Francis' big night

Danny Moloshok / AP

The Los Angeles Lakers' Jumaine Jones dribbles down the court against Orlando's Cuttino Mobley, left, and Pat Garrity on Sunday.

updated 5:47 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2004

LOS ANGELES - In another episode of “How the Lakers Turn,” Kobe Bryant accused Karl Malone of making a pass at his wife.

Bryant then went out and had 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists in Los Angeles’ 105-98 victory over Orlando on Sunday night.

Bryant, who feuded with Shaquille O’Neal in the past, said it was difficult to deal with the conflict with Malone.

“But I’ve been through a lot and my family’s been through a lot, and we’re just trying to put it behind us and move on,” he said.

While Bryant went just 6-of-23 from the floor, his teammates picked up the slack. Jumaine Jones hit seven of his eight 3-point shots and finished with 25 points, and Chris Mihm had 25 points and 14 rebounds.

The Lakers had to overcome a 27-point, 13-assist game by Orlando’s Steve Francis, who also had seven rebounds.

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Bryant talked about the feud with Malone before the game, saying he had phoned his former teammate after Vanessa Bryant told her husband on Nov. 23 that Malone made inappropriate comments to her that night at the game at Staples Center.

Bryant said he called Malone and told him, “Stay away from my wife. What’s wrong with you? How could you?”

Malone was unavailable for comment Sunday.

According to his agent, Dwight Manley, Malone said he had never made a pass at Bryant’s wife, that he initially was surprised at the accusation, and that he apologized to both Bryant and his wife for any remarks she may have considered inappropriate.

“Karl’s response to Kobe’s comments today is that he’s a basketball player and not a soap opera actor and he doesn’t intend to be involved in a personal soap opera,” Manley said of his client.

Jones scored 22 of his points in the second quarter, when he went 6-of-6 from 3-point range.

The Lakers outscored Orlando 11-4 over the final 4:05 to pull away from an 84-all tie.

Jones, who finished 9-of-11 from the field, gave the Lakers a 100-96 lead with 2 minutes remaining with his final 3-pointer. Los Angeles put the game away with five free throws, three by Bryant, in the last minute.

“Jumaine came in and was on fire,” Bryant said. “We razzed him a little bit because he missed a wide-open jumper last game, and he came back tonight and more than redeemed himself for it.”

After trailing much of the game, the Lakers took the lead at 66-65 on Mihm’s layup 2½ minutes into the third quarter. A driving layup by Francis in the closing seconds of the period sent the game into the final quarter tied at 84.

Jones’s big second quarter helped the Lakers come back from 12 points down to narrow the gap to 59-56 by halftime.

“He had a Kobe-like performance in the first half,” Magic coach Johnny Davis said of Jones. “We just never got him under control. Then he hit a big one in the second half that kind of put it out of reach.”

Grant Hill, who scored 16 for Orlando, said the Lakers have improved since the Magic’s win over them last month.

“If they can get guys to step up on different nights in addition to Kobe’s play, they are going to win some games,” Hill said.

Notes: The Lakers blew an 18-point lead and lost 122-113 at Orlando on Nov. 12. Bryant had 41 points in the win, while Francis scored 32 for the Magic. ... Lakers coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who coached Francis at Houston, said, “It’s scary sometimes what he can do with the ball.”