Kobe Bryant scored 37 points, including two drives to spark a 14-2 second-half run, and the Los Angeles Lakers spoiled Atlanta's home opener, beating the Hawks 103-97 on Tuesday night.
Bryant topped the 30-point mark for the fourth straight game and had 37 for the second straight game -- just off his NBA-best average of 36.3.
Atlanta, sparked by Joe Johnson's season-high 26 points, led 29-19 in the first quarter and 51-48 at halftime. But following the last tie at 63, Bryant scored on back-to-back drives to send the Lakers on the run that made it 77-65.
The Lakers kept the lead in double figures most of the rest of the game.
Smush Parker had 21 points and has scored 20 or more points in three of the Lakers' four games.
Lamar Odom added 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Devean George had 12 points.
Al Harrington returned after missing two games with an ankle injury to get 18 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta. Tyronn Lue and Zaza Pachulia each had 13 points.
Magic 76, Rockets 74
At Houston, Steve Francis scored 27 points and had two assists to Jameer Nelson in the final two minutes as Orlando won for the first time in four games.
The Rockets (1-2) lost their second straight without Tracy McGrady, who's out three weeks with a back injury.
Yao Ming had 17 points for Houston, which finished 26-of-70 from the field (37 percent).
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
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