Friday night marked the 12th straight lose for the Timberwolves to the Lakers, Kobe Bryant had 22 points and a season-high 13 assists leading Los Angeles to a 104-96 victory at home.
Lamar Odom scored 18 points, and Pau Gasol added 17 points and 14 rebounds to aid the Lakers in winning their sixth game in a row.
The last 18 games that the Lakers have won Kobe had fewer than 20 field goal attempts.
“It just depends on the defense they’re playing against you. You just make them pick their poison,” Bryant said. “Either they play me man-up to start the game or they don’t. They decided to come after me, so I hit my guys and they made shots.”
Bynum had 11 points and five rebounds, but had to leave the game due to a strained left Achilles’ tendon early in the third quarter.
“The guys on this team, we’ve been playing together for a while, so that’s not a problem. You just continue to play,” Bryant said. “We’re used to playing through injuries and things like that. I saw him after the game and he wasn’t limping too much, so hopefully it’s not that serious and he won’t miss any time.
