CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, Pau Gasol added 26 and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers continued their impressive road trip with a 106-97 win over the reeling Charlotte Bobcats on Monday.
The Lakers improved to 4-1 since acquiring Gasol behind Bryant’s third straight game scoring 30 or more points.
In improving to 6-2 on their nine-game road trip, the Lakers never trailed but struggled to put away the Bobcats. Charlotte cut a 13-point deficit to 89-86 midway through the fourth quarter before wilting in their seventh straight loss.
Raymond Felton scored 29 points and Nazr Mohammed added 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Bobcats, who matched their longest losing streak of the season.
Cavaliers 118, Magic 111
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Larry Hughes scored a season-high 40 points and LeBron James added 29 and 10 assists as Cleveland won.
Hughes scored 23 in the third quarter on 6-for-7 shooting, including two 3-pointers and an assortment of drives and jumpers. He hit nine of 10 free throws in the period.
l five starters in double figures, while Dwight Howard had 16 points and nine rebounds. Howard scored 10 in the first quarter, but struggled the rest of the way as Cleveland collapsed inside with double- and triple-teams.
Orlando lost its second straight, and third of a five-game home stretch before the All-Star break.
76ers 84, Mavericks 76
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Andre Miller scored 21 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to their fourth straight win.
Miller, the Eastern Conference player of the week, is a big reason why the Sixers are suddenly thinking about a playoff push. Philadelphia has won the first four games of a five-game homestand and moved a half-game behind idle New Jersey for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
Andre Iguodala finished with 14 points, including a pair of jumpers during a late 12-1 run that helped the Sixers pull away and earn a rare standing ovation from the home crowd.
Josh Howard led the short-handed Mavericks with 17 points before leaving in the fourth with a back injury, and Dirk Nowitzki added 15.
Spurs 93, Raptors 88
TORONTO (AP) – Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 34 points and added a career-high 15 rebounds, leading the San Antonio Spurs.
Tim Duncan added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs, who led from wire-to-wire and won for the fifth time in six games. San Antonio’s only defeat in that time was a 98-90 loss at Boston on Sunday.
Ginobili had 21 points in 19 first-half minutes, scored three more in the third, then helped put the game away with 10 in the fourth.
Toronto’s Jose Calderon scored a career-high 27 as the Raptors dropped their third straight at home.
San Antonio has won 10 of its past 12 against Toronto.
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