Lakers Hold Off Hornets To Clinch Pacific Division

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Kobe Bryant flashed a big smile after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to victory in their most important game of the season.

It was the smile of a champion.

“It’s good to be No. 1,” Bryant said after the Lakers blew all but one point of a 30-point lead before beating the New Orleans Hornets 107-104 Friday night to clinch the Pacific Division championship. “This was the first step. We want to take another one Sunday.”

Bryant had 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Lakers (55-25), who will enter the playoffs seeded no lower than third in the Western Conference, meaning they’ll have homecourt advantage in the first round.

“It’s a pleasant surprise,” Bryant said of the Lakers’ first division title in four years. “It’s a testament to our hard work and our unity.”

Bryant had a reason to be surprised, considering the Lakers haven’t won a playoff series since reaching the NBA finals in 2004, and weren’t expected to be in this position before the season started.

The Lakers (55-25) have a chance to do even more. They trail the conference-leading Hornets by a half-game, and will win the West if they can beat visiting San Antonio on Sunday and Sacramento on Tuesday night and New Orleans (55-24) loses one of its final three games. The Hornets play road games against the Kings and Dallas Mavericks and a home game against the Clippers.

If Los Angeles and New Orleans finish with the same record, the Lakers win the West and home-court advantage at least until the NBA finals because of a better record against conference opponents. The teams split their four regular-season games.

“I think we will win our last three games, so if that means we’ll win the West, I guess so,” Hornets star Chris Paul said.

Pau Gasol added 25 points, Derek Fisher scored 15, and Lamar Odom had 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed for the 14th time this season but weren’t assured of victory until the final minute.

“We were happy that we didn’t get into 50 minutes today, only 48,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

Peja Stojakovic led the Hornets with 24 points. Tyson Chandler added 18 points and eight rebounds, Jannero Pargo scored 17 points and Paul had 15 points and 17 assists.

“They were just physical and much more aggressive,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said. “They were playing with a purpose. We were out there playing a basketball game. And that’s the difference.”

Click here to read more…