Kobe Byrant Rallies During Second Half

The Lakers came away with a 102-96 win against the Houston Rockets Wednesday at the Toyota Center, largely due to Kobe Bryant scoring 31 of his 37 points in the second half, spurned on by Ron Artest’s trash-talking. With only six points at halftime, Bryant finished with 37 on stellar 14-for-23 shooting with six assists, five rebounds and four steals. Despite Lamar Odom’s absence (he was replaced by Josh Powell), the Lakers came back from their loss to Portland on Monday. In another surprise among the starting five, Trevor Ariza stepped in instead of Luke Walton and had eight points and six rebounds in almost 30 minutes. The Lakers ended the Rockets’ 12-game home winning streak and broke their own three-game road losing streak.

When asked about his one-on-one words with Artest, Bryant told the L.A. Times, “It wasn’t so much of a battle … I kicked his … We’ve had some battles in the past and he’s gotten the best of me a few times. [Wednesday], I got the best of him.” Artest, who only scored 11 points on four-for-16 shooting but did have an impressive six steals, replied “We are not friends out there at all. After the season, we might play pick-up games or something like that. Not now.” The Lakers (51-13) moved half a game ahead of Cleveland for the NBA’s best record and will play San Antonio tonight before returning to L.A.

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