FT Chronicle

Agence France-Presse

LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant’s buzzer-beating three-pointer capped a rally that saw the Los Angeles Lakers erase a 20-point deficit to beat Sacramento 109-108 Friday in a National Basketball Association thriller.

Bryant finished with 39 points, while Lamar Odom added a season-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Lakers.

Spain’s Pau Gasol had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four assists, one of which set up Bryant’s game-winner from in front of the Sacramento bench.

Bryant buried the three-pointer as time expired and Lakers fans at Staples Center chanted “M-V-P”.

It was Bryant’s third game-winning shot of the season. He scored 27 of his 39 points in the second half.

Andrew Bynum added 16 points and four rebounds for the Lakers, who improved to 26-6.

Spencer Hawes had a career-high 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Kings, Omri Casspi scored 23 points, and Beno Udrih added 19 points and 13 assists.

The Lakers’ Shannon Brown had a three-pointer fail to drop with 8.9sec to play, and the Kings were up 108-106 when the ball went out of bounds off Gasol’s knee.

But Sacramento’s Ime Udoka left the door open for the Lakers when he missed two free throws with 4.8 seconds to play.

After a Lakers timeout with 4.1 remaining, Bryant sealed the win, avoiding stepping out of bounds as he released the ball in the nick of time.

Los Angeles were without Ron Artest for the fourth straight game as he continued to recover from a concussion suffered in a fall at his home.