On Thursday, the Staples Center hosted the game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers, ended 102-97 for the Lakers. With injured Tim Duncan and Tony Parker on the bench, the Spurs were 8 points short 6:04 minutes before the end of a game which featured 12 ties and 14 lead changes.

Kobe Bryant led his team to victory with 30 points and four steals in a game against a Spurs team that had 6 wins in the last 7 matches prior to Thursday encounter with the Lakers. Ginobli, who had previously scored 37 points for the Spurs against Dallas and Utah, remained at 14 points on a 5-17 shooting.

The third quarter came with a bruised left knee for Lakers’ Derek Fisher, after an offensive foul by Ginobili, and a Spurs that fought its way back to a 53-52 before time, thanks to Ginobili. The Lakers managed to come back in the fourth quarter, and went for the fourth straight victory this season, 102-97.

Size-advantage was what kept the Lakers above the 2-All Stars missing Spurs, but the advantaged disappeared once Bynum, after 11 rebounds, was out in the third quarter.  Bruce Bowen recorded 22 points in five shots for the Spurs, while Brent Barry contributed with 17 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Spurs to win, despite the 13 three-pointers on 35 attempts they made. 

After the score got tied in the fourth quarter, the two baskets by Radmanovic made way for a 18-5 run, which gave the Lakers a 99-86 lead 3:40 minutes before the end of the game. Facing a crowd of over 18,000, superstar Kobe Bryant counted seven rebounds, three assists and four steals, coming after the Sunday victory over the Pacific Division rival – Golden State where he scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half.