Kobe Bryant scored 38 points

Roundup: Bryant’s 38 points lift Lakers past Nuggets

ASSOCIATED PRESS   MAY 02, 2012

Kobe Bryant scored 38 points, Andrew Bynum followed up his playoff-opening triple-double with 27 points and nine rebounds, and the Lakers weathered Denver’s late rally for a 104-100 victory over the Nuggets Tuesday night in Los Angeles, taking a 2-0 series lead.

Pau Gasol had 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists for the third-seeded Lakers, who still haven’t trailed in this series despite nearly crumbling against a much-improved effort by the Nuggets and Ty Lawson, who scored 25 points.

Los Angeles’s 19-point lead in the third quarter dwindled to 4 with 3 minutes to play, but Ramon Sessions scored 4 key points in the final 1:14 before Bryant’s icing free throws with 9.4 seconds left.



Game 3 is Friday in Denver.

Lawson shook his awful series opener with 17 second-half points, but the sixth-seeded Nuggets lost their ninth straight road playoff game despite playing much closer to their preferred speedy tempo after the Lakers muzzled them in Game 1.

Sessions scored 14 points for Los Angeles, which played just enough fast-break ball of its own to stay ahead of Denver - and now the Lakers are halfway to the second round. They have only lost one playoff series in franchise history after winning the first two games, going 42-1.

76ers 109, Bulls 92 - Jrue Holiday scored 26 points, Lou Williams added 20,and Philadelphia evened its first-round series in host Chicago’s first game since Derrick Rose’s season-ending knee injury.

The superstar point guard received a standing ovation and waved to the crowd as he limped onto the court to present the game ball, then watched from a suite as the 76ers simply blitzed the Bulls in the third quarter in Game 2.

They outscored Chicago, 36-14, in the period, turning an 8-point deficit into an 83-69 lead, and pulled even with the league’s top-seeded team. Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.

Holiday was 11 of 15 from the field, and the Sixers shot 59 percent overall.

Joakim Noah led the Bulls with 21 points and eight rebounds.