Bryant pushes Lakers past Warriors in OT thriller

Oakland, CA – The Los Angeles Lakers are getting their pieces back at the same time they're playing their best basketball of the season.

Kobe Bryant tallied his eighth straight 30-plus point game and 400th of his career in the Los Angeles Lakers' 118-115 overtime win over the Golden State Warriors.

Bryant finished with 34 points on 16-of-41 shooting to go with 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won a season-high four straight games.

Steve Nash, who had 12 points and nine assists, returned to the starting lineup following a 24-game absence after sustaining a non-displaced fracture to his lower left leg on Oct. 31.

"To play 40 minutes after seven weeks was more than I could ask for," Nash said. "I'll have to keep working on it. I know it will be sore and painful but I'm used to that."

Nash came back three days after Pau Gasol rejoined the Lakers following an eight-game absence because of tendinitis in his knees.

David Lee recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Stephen Curry provided 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Golden State, which has dropped two of its last three contests.

"This will not put a damper on our Christmas spirits," Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said. "We're excited about where we're at, and we're excited about where we're headed."

Trailing by 14 following Landry's dunk, which made it 90-76 early in the fourth, the Lakers countered with a 19-5 run to tie the contest. Bryant's 3- pointer capped the surge and made it 95-95 with 4:28 left in regulation.

Harrison Barnes' putback dunk a bit later gave the Warriors a 102-98 edge before Dwight Howard hit a pair of free throws and Nash hit a pull-up triple from the top of the arc for a 103-102 Lakers advantage with 1:46 to go.

The pendulum then swung back and forth as the lead switched hands four times.

Festus Ezili put home an alley-oop from Jarrett Jack, but Bryant nailed a pull-up jumper at the other end to make it 105-104 in favor of Los Angeles with 1:01 on the clock.

Lee then nailed a step-back jumper before Metta World Peace swished a left- corner triple, which gave the visitors a 108-106 margin with 24.1 ticks remaining.

Jack's pull-up jumper at the other end knotted the game at 108-108 and Bryant misfired on a jumper with 1.7 seconds left to send the contest into an extra session.

Howard's putback dunk and Bryant's turnaround jumper on Los Angeles' first two possessions of overtime put the Lakers up for good, 112-108.

Later in the extra frame, Curry's trey pulled the hosts within 116-115 with 33.8 seconds left before Nash answered with a fadeway jumper in the paint for a 118-115 lead with 16.9 ticks on the clock.

Curry misfired from beyond the arc with 4.8 ticks left and Ezeli snatched the offensive rebound, but turned the ball over and Los Angeles escaped with the victory.

Earlier, the Lakers led, 31-27, after a quarter of play, but the Warriors outscored Los Angeles, 34-22, in the second and took a 61-53 cushion into the break.

Golden State took an 87-74 spread into the fourth.

Game Notes

Bryant became the fifth NBA player to register his 400th career 30 plus-point game ... The Lakers moved to 5-11 on the campaign when Bryant tallies at least 30 points ... The Warriors turned the ball over 19 times, which led to 26 Laker points.