Bryant leads Lakers to victory

Kobe Bryant scored 27 points and dished out 10 assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to an 111-104 victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday.

Lamar Odom added 20 points and 12 rebounds for Los Angeles while Caron Butler had 21 as Lakers coach Rudy Tomjanovich registered his second win in as many contests against his former team.

Tracey McGrady paced the Rockets with 26 points while Yao Ming had 25 before fouling out with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Bryant, McGrady and Houston's Bob Sura each contributed $1,000 for every point they scored to tsunami relief efforts and the three players combined to raise $73,000 for the fund.

In Portland, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade both had double-doubles powering the Miami Heat to a 103-92 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, their eighth consecutive road win.

O'Neal had a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds while Wade had 25 points and equalled a career-best 12 assists as the Heat won for the 16th time in 17 games improving their record to an Eastern Conference best 27-8.

In Minneapolis, Sam Cassell had 26 points as the struggling Timberwolves took advantage of the absence of Allen Iverson to steal an 89-84 win from the Philadelphia 76ers.

With the NBA scoring leader Iverson sidelined with a sprained ankle, the Timberwolves seized the opportunity to break out of a four-game losing slump.

Wally Szczerbiak contributed 23 to Minnesota's cause while NBA MVP Kevin Garnett added 18 points and 18 rebounds.

In Atlanta, Mike Bibby drained a game-high 31 points to lift the Sacramento Kings to a 100-97 win over the Hawks.

Bibby also contributed six rebounds, six assists and six steals as the Kings recorded their fourth win in five games.

In Orlando, Hedo Turkoglu had 22 points and Grant Hill added 16 as the Magic downed the Charlotte Bobcats 111-92 to register their second straight win after a four game tailspin.

In East Rutherford, a day after admitting he gave less than his best playing in Toronto, Vince Carter scored 22 points, added six rebounds and four assists to lead the New Jersey Nets to an 82-72 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

In Boston, Richard Hamilton was back on target scoring a game high 25 points as the NBA champion Detroit Pistons held on to take a 110-104 decision over the Celtics.

A night earlier, Hamilton failed to make a shot going 0-10 in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies but found his range in Boston hitting two crucial jumpers, including a big three-pointer, late in the game to seal the win.

In Toronto, Desmond Mason had 23 points, including three clutch free throws in the final 21 seconds of overtime, as the Milwaukee Bucks edged the Raptors 107-105 to record just their third road win of the season.

In Memphis, Pau Gasol scored 20 points and 11 rebounds while Shane Battier chipped in with 19 as the Grizzlies downed the New Orleans Hornets 84-76, extending their winning run to six games.

In Chicago, rookie Luol Deng amassed 22 points and snared seven rebounds as the Bulls defeated Utah 84-78, handing the Jazz their eighth straight defeat.