LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant scored 28 points, Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 110-82 in a testy affair in which five players were ejected Thursday night.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers’ Matt Barnes and Steve Blake and the Mavericks’ Jason Terry and Brendan Haywood were thrown out following an altercation under the basket. Los Angeles’ Shannon Brown was later ejected in a separate incident.
The late skirmish didn’t take away from the Lakers’ 16th win in 17 games since the All-Star break, helping them pull within 212 games of slumping San Antonio for the NBA’s top overall record.
Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, whose five-game winning streak ended.
