Kobe Bryant always loves coming home to Philadelphia.
On a night Julius Erving and Philadelphia’s 1983 championship team was honored, Andrew Bynum and the Lakers stole the show. Bynum scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Lamar Odom had 21 and 11 to lead Los Angeles to a 106-101 win over the 76ers on Friday night.
“It’s always special coming here,” said Bryant, the Lower Merion High grad who was, typically, booed all game. “Every time I come here, I realize how much I miss it. It’s always fun.”
Bryant only scored 19 points, but did leave Philly with a more memorable keepsake: the Lakers’ first regular season win in the city since February 2000. The experience would have been more fun for Bryant had he caught up with Erving. Bryant wanted to chat with the Hall of Famer he patterned his game after in his formative years.
Bryant sat at his locker before the game and talked about how when he was a kid he wanted to play like the high-flying Erving and how once all he thought about was playing for the Sixers.
Now he gets a thrill from beating them.
In other NBA games, it was Portland 99, Denver 96; Boston 107, Chicago 82; Dallas 102, the Los Angeles Clippers 89; Detroit 92, Memphis 67; Utah 113, Orlando 94; Atlanta 97, Washington 92; Seattle 123, Toronto 115; Charlotte 105, New York 95; and Minnesota 131, Indiana 118.
Erving and Clint Richardson took part in a halftime celebration for the 1982-83 championship team. That team – which also included current Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks and Moses Malone – swept the Lakers in four games and was the last of Philadelphia’s four major pro sports teams to win a championship.
Erving received a rousing ovation from the crowd, one of the largest and liveliest of the season.
“Twenty-five years is much too long, so let’s get it done,” Dr. J told the fans.
Trail Blazers 99, Nuggets 96
At Portland, Ore., Martell Webster scored 19 points and Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge each added 18 to help the Trail Blazers extend their winning streak to 10 games.
Portland, which has the longest current winning streak in the NBA, has not won as many consecutive games since winning 12 straight in the 2001-02 season.
Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony each had 34 points for the Nuggets. Anthony added 12 rebounds.
Celtics 107, Bulls 82
At Boston, Paul Pierce scored 15 of his 22 points in the third quarter, going 4-for-4 from 3-point range in the third before sitting out the fourth in Boston’s easy bounce-back victory.
Recovering quickly from their only home loss of the season, Boston never trailed in the game and never gave up its double-digit lead after scoring 10 consecutive points to make it 40-22 with 7:50 left in the first half. Ray Allen scored 18 for the Celtics, who have the best record in the NBA (21-3).
Mavericks 102, Clippers 89
Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points and Devin Harris added 21 to help host Dallas win its fifth straight. Nowitzki has scored at least 30 in his last three games.
The Clippers have lost 12 of 15 games since starting the season 6-4.
Chris Kaman had 24 points and 19 rebounds for Los Angeles, giving him his 11th straight double-double in December.
Pistons 92, Grizzlies 67
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Tayshaun Prince scored 16 points and Antonio McDyess added 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Detroit to its fourth straight victory.
The Pistons, who have won 11 of 13, got 14 points each from Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton. Rookie Arron Afflalo added a career-best 12.
Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies with 18 points. Pau Gasol returned to the Memphis lineup after missing four games with a toe injury. He finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes, but went 4-for-14 from the floor as Memphis shot 33.8 percent.
Jazz 113, Magic 94
Paul Millsap scored a career-high 28 points to help Utah end a seven-game road losing streak.
The Magic, who went 13-4 in November, have now lost six of eight and haven’t won a home game since Nov. 24. The Jazz hadn’t won on the road since Nov. 28, but made this one look easy.
Carlos Boozer had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz. Deron Williams had 17 points and seven assists and Matt Harpring and C.J. Miles each added 10.
Hedo Turkoglu scored a season-high 27 for Orlando and Dwight Howard had 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Hawks 97, Wizards 92
At Washington, Joe Johnson scored half of his 32 points in the final quarter and Atlanta moved past the Wizards and into second place in the Southeast Division.
Marvin Williams added 22 points and Josh Smith had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks, who hadn’t won at Washington since December 2003.
Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 30 points and nine rebounds, but the team’s top scorer, Caron Butler, was limited to 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
SuperSonics 123, Raptors 115
At Seattle, Kevin Durant scored 27 points, Wally Szczerbiak added 23 off the bench, and Seattle held off Toronto’s late rally.
Durant scored 14 in the third quarter alone, keeping Seattle close long enough for his teammates to make a spirited run to pass and pull away from Toronto over the final 16 minutes.
Chris Bosh scored 16 of his 26 in the first half, but made just 4 of 13 shots in the second half.
Bobcats 105, Knicks 95
At Charlotte, N.C., Gerald Wallace scored 27 points and Charlotte dominated New York.
Nazr Mohammed added 20 points and 14 rebounds and Jason Richardson and Emeka Okafor scored 17 points apiece for the Bobcats, who rolled out to a 24-point second-quarter lead.
Nate Robinson scored 20 points for the Knicks, who dropped to 1-10 on the road.
Timberwolves 131, Pacers 118
Playing on a hurt ankle, Antoine Walker made six 3-pointers and scored 23 points to help host Minnesota beat Indiana.
Al Jefferson scored 15 of his 29 points in the third quarter and added 13 rebounds and Sebastian Telfair had 27 points and 11 assists in all 48 minutes for the Timberwolves, who snapped a six-game losing streak and won just their fourth game of the season.
Mike Dunleavy had 30 points and six rebounds for the Pacers, who led by 21 points in the first half.
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