adminthe two-time defending NBA champions to a 98-80 victory over Western Conference rivals the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday, sending them into the next round of the playoffs.
The Lakers were joined in the second round by the Atlanta Hawks, who held off the Orlando Magic 84-81 to clinch their Eastern Conference series 4-2, and the Dallas Mavericks who closed out the Portland Trail Blazers 4-2 with a 103-96 win.
Los Angeles held a slim 40-34 lead following a low scoring first half, but Bryant and Gasol then took over to post a 12-point lead by the start of the fourth quarter, which they built on despite resting most of their starters.
“I think we weathered the storm early. We didn’t get off to a great start. But we didn’t allow the emotion and the energy in the building to get to us early,” Lakers guard Derek Fisher told reporters. “Even though we didn’t play well, we hung right in there. In the third quarter we finally found a little bit of space to get some separation.”
Bryant led the Lakers with 24 points in just 30 minutes. Andrew Bynum scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and Gasol scored 16 points as LA clinched a 4-2 series win. Hornets’ guard Chris Paul was held to just one field goal in the first half and 10 points in total in the game, though he did make 11 assists. Carl Landry led the Hornets with 19 points and Trevor Ariza added 12 points. – Reuters.
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- July 30, 2026
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