Lakers Cruise Over Jazz in Anaheim

Yahoo Sports: ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Kobe Bryant scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the third quarter to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 95-85 exhibition victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

Smush Parker added 15 points, Lamar Odom had 14 and Kwame Brown grabbed nine rebounds for the Lakers (5-2), who won their third consecutive preseason game.

Bryant scored his 12 points in an 8-minute span of the third quarter as Los Angeles built a 71-50 lead with 4:08 left in the period.

Humphries scored eight points during a 13-2 run that pulled Utah within 77-71 with 6:47 to play. But the Lakers made six of eight free throws during an 8-2 run that put Los Angeles up 85-73 with 3:33 remaining.

The Lakers forced five turnovers and held the Jazz to one field goal attempt in the game’s first five minutes. Utah committed 21 turnovers in the game.

The Lakers (5-2) will finish off the pre-season by taking a ride to Las Vegas, facing the Sacramento Kings in their exhibition finale. Tipping off at 7:00 PM PST, we will have live Gameday coverage as always in our ClubLakers.com Forums!

This was arguably the most impressive performance of the Lakers’ pre-season. What are your reactions to this game? What was your take on young Andrew Bynum’s professional debut? Will he live up to the hype? Will Smush Parker’s solid pre-season performances continue during the regular season? Sound off in our CL.com Gameday Discussion!

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