Bryant's late shot gets Lakers past Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant broke away from the double team of James Johnson and DeMar DeRozan while Metta World Peace led him perfectly into the right corner on the inbounds pass.

Bryant pulled up along the right baseline with 4.2 seconds on the clock and his jumper hit nothing but net, lifting the Lakers to a thrilling 94-92 win over the Raptors.

Following a timeout, Toronto was called for a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds pass and Bryant made 1-of-2 from the line to make it 94-92. With 3.7 seconds remaining, DeRozan received the inbounds pass, but World Peace defended him well and his shot from the left corner at the buzzer came up well short.

"I like my money, what little bit of money I make. I don't want to send it to the league. Mr. Foster saw it different," Raptors head coach Dwayne Casey said of the five-second call.

Bryant finished with 27 points while Pau Gasol filled the stat sheet with 16 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who concluded their six- game road trip with a 3-3 mark.

"We just need to find some consistency," World Peace said of the road trip. "Once we have some consistency, we'll be a better team."

Jose Calderon netted a career-high 30 points for Toronto, which has lost four of its last five games.

The Raptors overcame an 18-point first quarter deficit and used a 7-0 spurt to take their first lead of the contest.

Trailing 84-81, Calderon tied the game with a trey and DeRozan fed Ed Davis for a two-handed slam to give the Raptors their first lead. DeRozan then stole Bynum's pass and fed Linas Kleiza for a driving hook shot to make it 88-84 with 2:11 left.

After Calderon's jumper made it 90-86 with 1:41 to play, Bryant took over for Los Angeles.

He pulled the visitors within one after nailing a trey from the left wing. Bryant stripped Kleiza on Toronto's next touch and fed a trailing World Peace for the easy layup to make it 91-90 with 31.4 to play.

Not to be outdone, Calderon gave the Raptors the lead right back as he pulled up from the right elbow and nailed the jumper with 16 seconds left.

With Los Angeles already holding a five-point advantage early on, the visitors stretched the lead to 22-6 following a 13-2 run. Gasol and Bynum recorded four points apiece during the surge.

By the time Bryant netted his first field goal midway through the opening quarter, the Lakers were already up 24-8. Gasol, who finished the stanza with eight points, five rebounds and four assists, gave the Lakers their largest lead of 18, 29-11, late in the frame.

The Lakers took a 34-19 lead into the second.

The Raptors outscored the Lakers 11-4 over the final 4:07 of the second quarter. Johnson's transition dunk with 0.8 seconds remaining pulled Toronto within 54-46 entering the break.

Bryant scored nine points in the third as the Lakers took a 73-67 advantage into the final quarter.

Game Notes

Jerryd Bayless missed the game for Toronto with a sore left ankle...The Lakers have won eight of their last nine games against the Raptors...Bynum had 14 points and nine rebounds...The Raptors were 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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