Bryant inspires Lakers to victory to snap losing streak

Forward Kobe Bryant scored 22 points in three quarters, allowing the Los Angeles Lakers to snap a six-game losing streak by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 113-95 at Staples Centre on Tuesday.

Rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell came off the bench to score 19 points and record seven assists as seven Lakers reached double figures in scoring.

Guard Lou Williams scored 16 points, forward Julius Randle finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds and centre Roy Hibbert added 12 points and a season-high 11 rebounds for Los Angeles (4-21), which won for only the second time at home this season.

Reserve guard Michael Carter-Williams had 19 points and guard Khris Middleton chipped in 16 to lead Milwaukee (10-16), which has dropped three of its last four games.

Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The Bucks did not play anything close to their performance in Saturday’s 108-95 win over Golden State that ended the Warriors’ perfect 24-0 start to the season. Against the Lakers, the Bucks fell into an early hole and never recovered.

Milwaukee also was hurt playing without centre Greg Monroe, who was a late scratch with a sore left knee. Monroe apparently bumped knees with a teammate during the team’s shoot-around on Tuesday morning. He will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.

The Lakers dictated the first half en route to a 55-46 lead at the break and continued their dominance in the second half.

Los Angeles opened the third quarter with a 10-2 surge, including a crowd-pleasing dunk by forward Larry Nance Jr over Bucks centre John Henson, for a 17-point advantage after a Bryant fadeaway at 8:47.

Another Lakers run that featured a four-point play by Bryant pushed the lead to 75-53 after a reverse layup by Russell on an assist from Bryant. Los Angeles led 86-66 heading into the final quarter.

With the victory, the Lakers also ended a run of 14 straight opponents scoring at least 100 points.

The Bucks outshot the Lakers 47.1 per cent to 46.1 per cent but Los Angeles had an edge in three-pointers, making 10-of-27 (37 per cent) to only 4-of-13 (30.8 per cent) for Milwaukee.

James scores 24

The Cleveland Cavaliers, closing in on the return of point guard Kyrie Irving, won their third consecutive game when they beat the Celtics 89-77 in Boston on Tuesday.

Forward LeBron James capped a 12-0 third-quarter run with a reverse slam dunk as the Cavs took control.

James, who finished with 24 points, had six during that run and also capped a 10-3 fourth-quarter spurt that made things comfortable for Cleveland (16-7).

He shot 10-for-20 from the floor (0-for-3 from 3-point range) and committed five turnovers, also grabbing seven rebounds.

The Celtics (14-11) closed a 13-point deficit to seven, but Cleveland forward Kevin Love hit six points and James two in an 8-0 run that sent fans heading for the exits.

Love, whose 2015 postseason ended on the TD Garden floor when he was injured by Boston forward Kelly Olynyk, scored 20 points and added 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

It was a different Cav who got injured this time, as guard Iman Shumpert, who missed the first 21 games while recovering from wrist surgery, left the game with a groin complaint.

“Honestly, [I am] a little bit concerned,” Cavaliers coach David Blatt said of Shumpert, who missed the first 21 games of the season.

“I have no idea what the extent is but given what our recent history is, I’m concerned.”

On a brighter note, the Cavs are close to getting Irving back for his season debut after his recovery from a knee injury.

Blatt went out of his way to credit James’ oft-overlooked defence as a key to the victory.

“It seems like there’s nothing we don’t ask of him that he doesn’t answer for us,” said Blatt. “That’s why he’s the greatest player in the game.”

Talking about the team defence, James said: “That’s one of our staples we stress every single day — defending at a high level and trying to move the ball offensively. In the first half, we allowed them to get to some of their spots. Wasn’t as aggressive, but we still played very well.

“They had 46 points at halftime. But in the second half, we just locked down and then we started moving the ball. We just kind of kept them off base.”

Guard Avery Bradley led the Celtics with 17 points, while forward Jae Crowder, who played strong defence on James much of the night, added 14. Guard Isaiah Thomas shot 3-for-15 from the floor en route to 12 points.