Bryant, Lakers Hold Off Nuggets

Kobe Bryant is starting to look less like a sixth man and more like a leading man.

Bryant, settling comfortably into his new starting role, scored 21 points, including six in the final two minutes, as the Los Angeles Lakers held off the winless Denver Nuggets 103-98 Wednesday night.

"We just turned him loose, or at least ran a couple for him," Lakers coach Del Harris said. "I haven't much changed my opinion about whether (Bryant) can finish a game off."

O'Neal, who aggravated a abdomen injury, added 29 points, but was limited to just a free throw in the fourth quarter. Eddie Jones scored 21 for the Lakers, who were outrebounded 53-34 despite O'Neal's inside presence.

"I did enough," O'Neal said, adding that he expects to play Thursday at Minnesota.

Bryant, a 20-year-old in his third season, also had 10 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double as the Lakers won their ninth straight over Denver.

"I'm glad they have the confidence in me," Bryant said. "Going down the stretch, they had the confidence to give me the ball, and I was able to capitalize.

Rookie Raef LaFrentz led the Nuggets with 24 points and 12 rebounds, outplaying O'Neal despite giving up 2 inches and 75 pounds. Antonio McDyess had 21 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for Denver.

"I tried to make it as difficult as possible for him," LaFrentz said of his first matchup with O'Neal. "He's very strong. Even his ears are strong."

LaFrentz, who hit three 3-pointers, pulled the Nuggets to 96-95 with a three-point play with 27 seconds remaining after Bryant was called for an offensive foul.

Bryant, whose three-point play on a driving dunk broke a 92-92 tie with 1:35 left, came back with another three-point play, driving past Bryant Stith and hitting a layup over LaFrentz with 15.7 seconds left.

"I wanted to dunk on him," Bryant said, "but my hands still need to row a little bit more so I can palm the basketball."

The Nuggets called time out, but Danny Fortson threw up an airball from 30 feet, and Jones hit two free throws to give Los Angeles a 101-95 lead with five seconds left.

"We really did hustle tonight, but things just didn't go our way at the end," said McDyess, whose previous rebounding high was 18. "After the last game (a 99-80 loss at Houston), which was a disaster, we sucked it up like men and came out and played hard."

Nick Van Exel, traded from Los Angeles to Denver last June, struggled against his former team, finishing with nine points on 3-of-19 shooting.

"I probably was pressing at first, but I settled down," Van Exel said. "I'm indecisive with my shot right now, and it's not falling for me, but I'm not going to keep missing forever."

LaFrentz single-handedly kept Denver in the game in the fourth quarter, hitting two 3-pointers and tipping in his own miss to pull the Nuggets to 92-90 with 2:34 remaining.

Stith tied the game with two free throws with 1:46 left, but Bryant took over as the Lakers cleared out to give him room to work one-on-one against Stith.

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Kobe Bryant blew past Denver's defense. (AP)

"Who else are they going to put on me," Bryant said. "They had a small lineup, and I just took advantage."

Denver, which lost four games to Los Angeles by an average of 24 points last year, closed the first half with a 10-3 run to take a 46-45 halftime lead. It marked the first time in four games the Nuggets led at the break.

Van Exel, who was 2-for-13 Monday against Houston, went 2-for-10 in the first half.

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