The report Sunday, citing anonymous sources, says the Lakers are considering the free-agent guard to boost their struggling offense.

The 30-year-old Arenas was let go by the Orlando Magic in the preseason under the league’s amnesty provision. After he was traded to Orlando a year ago, Arenas made little impact in 49 games, averaging eight points. He played sparingly over the previous three seasons because of injuries and a 50-game NBA suspension for bringing a gun into the locker room.

Bryant, who scored 27 points, took an inbound pass from Metta World Peace and shot over the outstretched arms of James Johnson to deny the Raptors, who battled back after trailing by as many as 18.

Down 93-92, Toronto blew its best chance for a winning shot when Rasual Butler couldn’t inbound the ball and failed to call a timeout before five seconds had elapsed. Bryant made one of two from the line to put the Lakers up by two with 3.7 seconds left.

Jose Calderon inbounded to DeMar DeRozan for the final possession, but he airballed his potential game-tying shot at the buzzer.

Pau Gasol had 16 points and 17 rebounds and Andrew Bynum scored 14 for the Lakers, who went 3-3 on the road trip.

Calderon scored a career-high 30 points for the Raptors, who lost for the seventh time in 10 games. Linas Kleiza added 15 and Leandro Barbosa had 12.

Calderon hit two 3-pointers with less than 5 minutes left to tie the score at 84-84. After a missed jumper by Bryant, DeRozan fed Ed Davis for a fast break dunk, giving Toronto its first lead of the game. Bryant missed again before Linas Kleiza made a driving hook shot, putting the Raptors up 88-84 with 2:12 remaining.

The Raptors led 90-86 with just over a minute left but were on the wrong end of a video review. Bryant made them pay with a 3, then forced a steal and assisted on a driving layup by World Peace, putting the Lakers up 91-90 with 31 seconds left.

Calderon restored Toronto’s lead with a pull-up jumper, his 13th field goal of the game, giving the Raptors a 92-91 edge with 16 seconds to go.

That’s when Bryant made his decisive shot, evading two Toronto defenders to get open along the baseline.

NOTES: Calderon’s previous career-high was 27 against San Antonio on Feb. 11, 2008. … Andrea Bargnani, who sat for the 16th time in 18 games Sunday with a strained left calf, has been doing plenty of pool work in his rehab. “His new nickname is Flipper,” Raptors coach Dawn Casey joked, adding that Bargnani will increase his workload this week to include weight-bearing exercise. There’s still no timetable for the return of Toronto’s leading scorer. … Toronto Maple Leafs players Don Phaneuf and James Reimer attended the game.

Updated February 12, 2012

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) – Kobe Bryant didn’t know much about Jeremy Lin coming into Friday nights tilt against the New York Knicks, but he knows now.

Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85.

Buried deep on the bench a little more than a week ago, Lin led the Knicks to their fourth straight win, tying their longest streak of the season.

His two free throws with 52 seconds left and some booming “MVP! MVP!” chants stopped the Lakers’ final rally and allowed the undrafted Harvard product to pass Carmelo Anthony for the highest-scoring game by a Knicks player this season.

“Nobody has ever got to the rim that many times against us without another body being there, but give him credit.” Mike Brown said after the game.

His 38 points is the most points by a Knicks player against the  Lakers since Stephon Marbury put up 45 back in 2005.

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are rarely lacking in either of those categories.

A budding fan favorite among the faithful at Madison Square Garden, Lin faces possibly his toughest test yet Friday night as the Knicks attempt to defeat Bryant and the Lakers at home for the first time in more than five years.

New York (11-15) was one of the NBA’s biggest disappointments during a woeful 2-11 stretch Jan. 12-Feb. 3, but Lin has provided a much-needed spark since then.

The second-year point guard, who played only sparingly prior to the last three games, is averaging 25.3 points and 8.3 assists during the Knicks’ three-game winning streak.

Lin’s opportunity has come amid the absence of Knicks stars Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. Anthony is out with a strained right groin, while Stoudemire isn’t expected back from grieving the death of his brother until Tuesday at Toronto.

In the meantime, Lin’s sudden production and popularity has the Knicks selling shirts with “Linsanity” emblazoned across the front.

He lived up to the hype again Wednesday, scoring 23 points while shooting 9 of 14 from the floor and adding 10 assists in a 107-93 win at Washington.

“Like I said after the last game, I wouldn’t have imagined this,” said Lin, who went undrafted out of Harvard in 2010 and played his rookie season with Golden State, averaging 2.6 points in 29 games as a reserve.

Lin may be reviving both the Knicks’ season and embattled coach Mike D’Antoni’s job security.

“I think it’s for real,” D’Antoni said of Lin’s surge. “The things that are real are his vision, which won’t change; his speed, which won’t change; his knowledge of the game, which won’t change. I think it can only get better.

“He just does everything easy and the rest of the guys around him are playing the way we want to play.”

Lin and the Knicks, who are looking to match their season-high four game winning streak from Jan. 6-11, are in for a major test against the Lakers (15-11).

The Knicks have lost nine in a row to Los Angeles, including four straight at MSG. They fell 99-82 in Los Angeles on Dec. 29, when Lin scored two points in 1:40 of playing time.

Bryant, the league leader with 29.2 points per game, has averaged 33.4 points during the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak in this series. He’s averaging an incredible 40.0 points in his last four visits to New York, including a 33-point effort in a 113-96 victory last Feb. 11.

Teammate Pau Gasol had 25 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks Thursday as the Lakers won 88-87 in overtime at Boston. One of the blocks came at the final buzzer to secure the victory.

“I’ve been in situations before in my career where you freeze … catch yourself looking at the ball and end up losing the game,” Gasol said.

Gasol is averaging 26.8 points and 9.0 rebounds in his last four road games against the Knicks.

BOSTON (CBS) – Paul Pierce missed a 3-pointer at the end of regulation and Pau Gasol blocked Ray Allen’s putback as time expired in overtime to give the Los Angeles Lakers a thrilling 88-87 overtime win over the Boston Celtics.

Photo Gallery: Lakers- Celtics

Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 27 points in almost 45 minutes, while Gasol added another double-double scoring 25 points and pulling down 14 rebounds.

Both teams went scoreless for the final 1:29 of overtime after Andrew Bynum tipped-in  Bryant’s miss to give the Lakers a one-point lead.

“I thought this was an awful game,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reportes after the game. “If we had won, it would have been an awful game that we won. Give them credit: A lot of that was defense. But I thought a lot of it was self-inflicted.”

Up next for the Lakers, a short flight to New York to face Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks.

Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce overcame slow starts to return to the All-Star game, but the lengthy runs of Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan are over.

Nowitzki was chosen Thursday to his 11th straight All-Star game, despite his lowest scoring average since his second NBA season. Pierce has come on after a slow start caused by a foot injury and was picked for the 10th time.

But Garnett wasn’t chosen after 14 consecutive selections, and Duncan was left out after 13 in a row. Other All-Star regulars such as Ray Allen and Amare Stoudemire will be home, giving way to five first-timers: LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, Andre Iguodala, Roy Hibbert, and Luol Deng.

Also headed to Orlando for the Feb. 26 game are Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams.

This is great news for the Lakers since they were in desperate need of point guard depth. He was also the leading bench scorer for the Lakers averaging 7.3 points per game.

Blake has missed 13 games because of a rib injury, costrochaondral fracture, he sustained on January 11^th.

When these franchises square off in the regular season, however, the hometown fans have seldom seen their team win lately.

Struggling mightily away from Staples Center, the Lakers hope to break out of their road funk with a visit to TD Garden on Thursday night to face the Celtics, who look to extend their season-high winning streak to six.

Los Angeles is 11-2 at home but 3-9 on the road, and arrives in Boston after dropping two of the first three contests on a season-high six-game road trip. Much of the road struggles for the Lakers (14-11) stem from a defense that is allowing an average of 97.2 points compared to 85.2 at home.

Although the Celtics (14-10) have won five straight and nine of 10, Los Angeles might have better luck keeping Boston’s somewhat passive offense in check. The Celtics like to keep opponents from running and are among the league’s top teams in points allowed at 86.5 per game, but they also have one of the lowest-scoring offenses (90.8 ppg).

Taking the court at TD Garden also could work toward the Lakers’ advantage.

Los Angeles has won three straight and five of six in Boston during the regular season. That success has not bridged to the playoffs, however, as the Lakers lost five of six games there in the 2008 and 2010 NBA finals. The Celtics captured the title in ’08 and the Lakers won it in seven games two years later.

In the lone meeting in Boston last season, Kobe Bryant scored 23 and Pau Gasol finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 92-86 victory Feb. 10. Eleven days earlier at Staples Center, Paul Pierce scored 32 and Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 13 boards to withstand a 41-point performance from Bryant in a 109-96 victory. That was the Celtics’ third victory in four regular-season games versus the Lakers at Staples Center.

Bryant and Pierce each got a significant accomplishment out of the way before Thursday’s showdown.

Though Bryant passed Shaquille O’Neal for fifth place on the NBA’s career scoring list with 28,601, he missed nine of 10 shots in the fourth quarter Monday at Philadelphia and scored only four of his 28 points after halftime in a 95-90 loss.

Two days earlier, the Lakers were tied at Utah entering the fourth only to lose 96-87.

“I don’t think we need to change much,” forward Metta World Peace said. “We have the guys to finish the games. Right now there is not a lot of consistency, so once we start playing with a little more consistency, the play in the last quarter, we will win more consistently. We just have to stick with it.”

The Celtics have trailed for less than five minutes through all of their fourth quarters during the five-game win streak.

Pierce finished with 15 points in Tuesday’s 94-84 victory over Charlotte to overtake Larry Bird for No. 2 on Boston’s all-time scoring list. Pierce reached the milestone early in the third quarter and now has 21,797 points, six more than Bird.

“It was a relief,” said Pierce, averaging 22.6 points and 7.4 assists in the last 10 games. “So much was hanging over me the last couple of days. Just hearing about it and knowing that you’ve got a game to play.”

A key for Boston could be keeping Los Angeles from getting extra possessions on rebounds. While the Celtics are one of the league’s worst rebounding teams at 38.8 per game, the Lakers are among the best at 44.8.

Gasol has three straight double-doubles, grabbing 44 boards in that span with 12 coming on offense. Eight of Bynum’s 20 rebounds Monday came at the offensive end as he posted a fourth consecutive double-double, averaging 20.8 points and 13.3 boards in that span.

Shaq's Top Moments With Lakers (credit: Jed Jacobson/Allsport)

LOS ANGELES (CBS) – It is all coming together for Shaquille O’Neal and his post retirement plans.

In June , the Lakers announced plans to  hang O’Neal’s No. 34 at the  Staples Center, but weren’t sure when.

Thursday, NBA.com reported the Lakers will honor O’Neal with a ceremony sometime during the ’12-’13 season.

The report also indicated the Lakers would have done it earlier but didn’t want to rush it during a shortened season.

Shaq won three straight NBA titles starting in ’99-’00.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss released a statement last summer on the Big Diesel, “Shaq had a long and amazing career,” Buss’ statement read. “A huge impact both on and off the court. His contributions were significant to the entire NBA, but we specifically appreciate what he did with and what he meant to the Lakers during his eight years with us. We have three championships that we wouldn’t have won without him, and we will forever be grateful for his significant contributions to those teams.”

BOSTON (CBS) – On Monday, Kobe Bryant surpassed Shaquille O’Neal for the fifth on the NBA’s All-Time scoring list, which has sparked debate on whether Kobe, who is his 16^th year in purple and gold, is the greatest Laker Ever.

Now, take a look at what might have been. These photos were taken of Kobe’s pre-draft workout with the Boston Celtics back in 1996.

The thought of Kobe in leprechaun green is enough to make any Lakers fan SICK.

In fact, Kobe himself wasn’t sure about that trip to Boston 16 years ago.

LOS ANGELES – Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak is awaiting word on details of a workout Gilbert Arenas is planning in Los Angeles later this week and is open-minded about attending, two people with knowledge of the situation told CBSSports.com Wednesday.

Bryant surpassed O’Neal and moved into fifth place among NBA scorers in Monday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The retired O’Neal says he was never concerned with being the “best” Laker, only the most dominant on the court. He says, “I was that.”

Bryant and O’Neal played together for eight seasons and won three NBA championships. Bryant has 28,601 points and trails Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

O’Neal says playing with Bryant made up “the best eight years of my life,” contrary to their often fiery relationship as teammates.

Later this month, O’Neal will host the second annual Hall of Game Awards. The program airs Feb. 20 on Cartoon Network.

NEW YORK (AP) — Shaquille O’Neal has no problem with former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant passing him on the NBA career scoring list.

Bryant surpassed O’Neal and moved into fifth place among NBA scorers in Monday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The retired O’Neal says he was never concerned with being the “best” Laker, only the most dominant on the court. He says, “I was that.”

Bryant and O’Neal played together for eight seasons and won three NBA championships. Bryant has 28,601 points and trails Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

O’Neal says playing with Bryant made up “the best eight years of my life,” contrary to their often fiery relationship as teammates.

Later this month, O’Neal will host the second annual Hall of Game Awards. The program airs Feb. 20 on Cartoon Network.

The city attorney’s office said Tuesday that there was insufficient evidence to prove charges beyond a reasonable doubt. It says it did an exhaustive investigation that included interviews with independent witnesses.

Police have said Bryant took the man’s cellphone in August, apparently thinking it was being used to take his picture during a Sunday service at the St. Therese of Carmel Church in San Diego. The man went to a hospital for treatment of an injured wrist.

Bryant has denied the allegations. The accuser’s name has not been released.

The former second round pick was averaging 15.5 points and 7.5 rebounds for the LA D-Fenders.

Caracter never appeared in a game this season with the Lakers.

With the roster spot, the Lakers could go after a point guard, with Gilbert Arenas being an option.

Gallery: Kobe Bryant Through The Years

Bryant, playing in his hometown of Philadelphia, needed 23 points to tie O’Neal, scored his 24th point of the game in the 2nd quarter.

“To say this is a huge honor would be an understatement. I’m so fortunate to have such a good career.” Bryant said after the game.

It was looking like a night where the Lakers would be able to celebrate Bryant’s milestone, but after Andrew Bynum’s alley-oop with 4:38 left in the fourth quarter, the 76ers went on a 14-2 run to end the game.

The Lakers (14-11) will play at Boston on Thursday.

NBA All-Time Scoring Leaders

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Los Angeles coach Mike Brown has been suspended one game without pay and fined $25,000 for making contact with a game official and failure to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection in Saturday’s game.

The NBA announced the suspension Monday. Brown will miss Monday’s game in Philadelphia against the 76ers.

The incident occurred with 8:41 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 96-87 loss to the Utah Jazz.

Brown received two quick technicals for arguing Pau Gasol was fouled by Utah’s Earl Watson.

Emotion got the best of him on Saturday night against the Rockets, and now he and the Minnesota Timberwolves have to pay the price: Love, his team’s leading scorer and rebounder, was suspended for two games by the NBA for “driving his foot into the upper body and face of the Rockets’ Luis Scola as Scola was lying on the floor.”

The play happened in the third quarter of Saturday’s victory over the Rockets after the two tangled while going for a rebound. As Love went to step over Scola, who a week earlier had thrown a ball off Love’s groin while trying to save it from going out of bounds, he looked down at the Rockets forward and stepped on him as he headed back up the court.

It marked the second time last week Love delivered a hard foul after not getting a call on the other end. He raked Pacers forward Danny Granger across the chest on Wednesday, touching off a small skirmish in a loss to Indiana.

Love apologized to Scola both after the game and in a statement issued by the team on Monday following the suspension, and said he has to do a better job handling his emotions.

“I don’t want to be known for that,” Love said after practice. “I want to be known as a stand-up guy who happened to make a mistake with a size 19 shoe and just move on. So everybody knows there were no ill intentions there.”

He will miss Tuesday’s game against Sacramento and Wednesday’s game at Memphis as the Timberwolves (12-12) look to climb above .500 for the first time this season.

Love is averaging 25.0 points and 13.7 rebounds per game and leads the NBA with 39.4 minutes per game. The All-Star forward was contrite on Monday, saying he thought the suspension from NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson “was warranted.”

“It’s been a chippy year,” Love said. “It’s not only us. It’s not only the Pacers, the Rockets or anything like that. It’s a lot of games. The guys are tired. Games are being drawn out and guys are worn down.

“For me and for us, it’s no different. And also for the refs as well. They’ve got to go over film just like we do, maybe even more. So you’ve got to respect them and got to respect what they do.”

Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman said he has spoken with Love and the rest of his young team about playing through any perceived mistreatment from the other team or the officials.

Adelman did wonder how Jackson landed on two games as proper punishment.

“Do I think it’s fair? No. Absolutely (not),” Adelman said. “I don’t know the reasoning. They don’t tell you the reasoning. I don’t know the reasoning why two games. They haven’t said anything. You’ve just got to move on.”

The 23-year-old Love, who recently signed a four-year extension worth more than $60 million, has been barking at the officials most of the season.

Adelman said he saw Love get upset with no-calls on two straight possessions before the run-in with Scola “and it led to the incident.”

“You’ve got to play through,” Adelman said. “Play with emotion, but you’ve got to play through it and not let it affect what happens on the court.”

Adelman didn’t say who would start in Love’s place against the Kings, but Derrick Williams and Anthony Tolliver figure to see a lot more time. Williams, the No. 2 overall pick, has had a tough time getting settled into a role with the Wolves.

He has played just 37 minutes combined in the last four games and tweeted on Saturday “anybody ever felt like a caged lion?”

“I guess it’s just patience and hopefully I pick up (Adelman’s) trust and have the ball in my hands more often,” Williams said. “I kind of feel like it’s just a lack of confidence, not in myself, but him in me being in that position. I’ve just got to earn his trust.”

Separately, the Timberwolves sent rookie G Malcolm Lee to Sioux Falls of the NBDL for what essentially is a rehab assignment. The second-round pick has not played this year after having surgery on a torn meniscus in his left knee.

___

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Al Jefferson scored 18 points, Paul Millsap had 16, and Earl Watson keyed a game-clinching 14-0 fourth quarter run to help the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers 96-87 Saturday night.
Watson scored eight points and had six assists in the fourth quarter as the Jazz beat the Lakers for the first time in three tries this season.

After he stole the ball from Pau Gasol at the top of the key and fed Derrick Favors for a dunk, Lakers coach Mike Brown went ballistic and charged after official Zach Zarba.

Brown received two quick technicals and was ejected with 8:34 to play.

Watson threw an alley-oop to C.J. Miles that brought the crowd to its feet and then capped the 14-0 run with a 3-pointer with 6:18 to play that gave Utah its biggest lead of the game, 83-68.

Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and Gasol had 24 points and 16 rebounds but the Lakers dropped to 3-8 on the road.

Just about every play went through Bryant after Brown’s ejection. Bryant made two 3-pointers and added three free throws after getting fouled on another attempt in a span of 1:13.

Sandwiched around a driving shot by Watson, Andrew Bynum and Gasol scored inside to cut the Jazz lead to 87-81.

But Watson, who was playing with a sprained ankle, assisted on baskets by Jefferson and Millsap and then made a 3-pointer for a 94-83 lead with 1:06 remaining.

Photo Gallery: Lakers v Jazz

Los Angeles lost seven of its first eight games on the road. The Lakers’ 90-87 overtime win at Utah was their only one until claiming road wins at Milwaukee and Friday night in Denver.

Many of the Lakers’ road woes returned against the Jazz. Plays frequently ended with two Lakers yelling and pointing about where the other should have been.

In addition to the contributions from Bryant and Gasol, Bynum posted 21 points and 12 rebounds but after that was about it. The rest of the Lakers combined for just 16 points. Los Angeles made 5 of 17 field goal attempts in the final quarter.

Neither team led by more than six points until Watson led the big Utah run. The Jazz took advantage of their fifteenth home game, which is tied with Philadelphia for most in the league.

The Jazz also got a boost from Devin Harris, Raja Bell and Watson who were all game-time decisions after the trio missed Utah’s 119-101 loss to Golden State on Thursday.

Al Harrington missed a 3-point attempt with 2 seconds left that would have put Denver ahead.

Pau Gasol added 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the third time in 10 road games this season and prevailed in Denver for only the second time in their last seven trips to the Pepsi Center.

The Lakers took control after Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov rolled his left ankle while scoring a bucket early in the second half. He was helped to the locker room by Chris Andersen and Julyan Stone without putting any pressure on his left foot and didn’t return. The Nuggets said X-rays were negative.

Two minutes later, Denver’s leading scorer, Danilo Gallinari, was accidentally poked in his left eye by Metta World Peace and retreated to the locker room for a few minutes to replace his contact while the Lakers put the finishing touches on a 10-2 run.

Gallinari was held to six points on 1-of-9 shooting and watched from the bench for the final 6 minutes as the Nuggets turned to their deep and balanced bench. Harrington, who led Denver with 24 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers that got them to 84-83 with 4 minutes remaining.

It stayed tight until the final minute, and Nene’s slam with 28 seconds left cut the Lakers’ lead to 91-89.

Bynum missed a dunk with 11 seconds left, and after the officials reviewed the tape, they overturned their initial ruling that the ball went off a Nuggets player and out of bounds.

As Andre Miller was about to inbound the ball, the Nuggets called a full timeout. Miller then got the ball in to Ly Lawson, who passed to Harrington, whose long-range attempt was off the mark.

Matt Barnes was fouled on the rebound and sank two free throws with two-tenths of a second left.

Usually, it’s the Lakers who are wearied after flying into Denver on the red-eye after playing the night before in L.A., and the Nuggets who are well-rested.

Not this time.

The Lakers were hunkered down in snowy Denver Thursday night while the Nuggets were beating the Clippers by 21 points at the Staples Center and then flying back to Denver, which was getting hit by a storm that dumped more than a foot on snow on the Mile High City.

It showed as the Lakers negated the Nuggets’ superior speed by getting back on defense often enough to keep the game from turning into a track meet.

Behind Bynum’s 15 first-half points, the Lakers took a 44-41 lead into the locker room after stifling both Denver’s fast-break and Gallinari, who averages 17.5 points but scored just two in the first half, on free throws in the final minute.

It was noted before the game that Nuggets coach George Karl finally had a roster with enough big men to match up to the Lakers’ size, but he said he wanted nothing to do with a matchup like that.

“This team goes to the post as much as anybody in basketball. I don’t want to try to beat them power vs. power, I want to go speed. I want pace vs. power,” Karl said. “We’re always going to try to outrun them.”

The Nuggets took their first lead, at 47-46, on Gallinari’s 3-pointer with 10:34 left in the third quarter, and a half-minute later Mozgov went up for a bucket that made it 49-46 and immediately hit the floor in excruciating pain as the Pepsi Center got quiet. He was replaced by Harrington.

When Gallinari went out, he was replaced by forward Corey Brewer, and Bryant capitalized with six quick points until Gallinari returned to the floor. The Lakers used a 10-2 spurt to take control at 56-51 and they never trailed again.

The game finally turned up-tempo late in the third quarter, but the Nuggets didn’t ever regain the lead.

Notes: Brown said he didn’t think PG Steve Blake would play on the Lakers’ trip. He is out with broken cartilage in his ribs. … Brewer returned to action after missing the Clippers game to deal with a personal issue.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers have done a nice job taking care of business at home.

That hasn’t been the case on the road.

The Lakers begin a season-high six-game trip Friday night when they face a Denver Nuggets team coming off an impressive victory in Los Angeles.

With Tuesday’s 106-73 rout over league-worst Charlotte, Los Angeles (13-9) improved to 11-2 at home. The Lakers, though, are off to their worst road start in nine years with a 2-7 record.

“I’m excited to get on the road and play,” said Kobe Bryant, the league leader with 30.0 points per game. “I’m extremely confident that we’ll play much better.”

Lakers coach Mike Brown hopes that means a better effort on the boards. Despite having two of the NBA’s better rebounders in Andrew Bynum (12.1 per game) and Pau Gasol (9.5), Los Angeles has been outrebounded by eight or more three times while losing four of five on the road.

“There are a handful of things we’ve got to do better on the road,” said Brown, whose team plays three games in four nights. “As of late, it’s been rebounding, but it also has to do with execution too.”

That definitely didn’t happen in the Lakers’ last visit to Denver, where they committed 15 turnovers, missed 19 of 23 from 3-point range and shot 39.8 percent in a 99-90 New Year’s Day defeat.

Bryant scored 16 points in that game to become the sixth player to reach 28,000, but he missed 22 of 28 shots. It was the fewest field goals made in his career with at least 26 attempts.

The Nuggets (15-7), meanwhile, will try to win for the sixth time in the Lakers’ last seven visits as they continue their second back-to-back-to-back set of games this season. Denver avoided a season-high third consecutive loss Thursday with a 112-91 victory at the Pacific Division-leading Clippers.

The Nuggets are scoring a league-best 105.7 points per game, but they can also play a little defense. They held the Clippers – the NBA’s fourth highest-scoring team – to 59 points the final three quarters after falling behind by 13.

Denver is 13-3 when holding opponents below 105 points.

“When we come out with this type of energy on the defensive end, it’s tough to catch us,” said Danilo Gallinari, who hit a season-high five 3s and scored 21 points.

The Lakers lead the NBA in field goal defense at 41.4 percent, but the Nuggets have six players averaging at least 11.1 points, led by Gallinari’s 17.5 per contest.

Los Angeles has far less balance, with Bryant accounting for 32.0 percent of its offense. However, the Lakers have received a nice boost off the bench from rookie point guard Andrew Goudelock, who is averaging 11.5 points over the last four games.

“We got a lot of shooters on this team, with our second group especially,” Goudelock said. “They can stretch out the floor with Troy Murphy and (Jason) Kapono obviously, and we got Bynum down low, so they can’t really double team because if they do, they really have to pick their poison.”

Bynum, named an All-Star starter Thursday along with Bryant, leads the Lakers with 47 points and 29 rebounds in two games versus Denver in 2011-12.

Making his season debut after serving a four-game suspension for knocking down Dallas’ J.J. Barea in last year’s playoffs, Bynum totaled 29 points and 13 boards in a 92-89 win over the visiting Nuggets on Dec. 31.

Complete story on CBSsports.com

The Los Angeles Clippers have come to terms to sign free agent forward K-Mart, who was in China playing for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers during the lockout.

Martin needs to pass a physical in order to complete the deal.  The deal is a mini-midlevel contract that could be worth around $2.5 million per year for up to two years.

The 34-year-old Martin averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds last season in Denver. The deal reunites him with former Nuggets teammate Chauncey Billups, now a guard with the Clippers. Martin also has a home in Los Angeles.

Two Lakers and two Clippers were voted as starters Thursday for the game, the first time in 15 years that two pairs of teammates have been voted to start for one conference.

Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant prevented a clean Los Angeles sweep of the Western Conference starting lineup by earning a forward spot for the Feb. 26 game in Orlando.

Dwight Howard of the host Magic — unless he’s traded first — was the overall leading vote-getter with 1.6 million. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are going together again from Miami, while MVP Derrick Rose of Chicago and New York’s Carmelo Anthony round out the East starters.

The Clippers and Lakers are developing a spirited rivalry this season, but they’ll have to get along for a night to give the West a second straight win in the NBA’s midseason event.

Bryant and Paul will be in the same backcourt two months after the NBA, as owners of the Hornets, killed a trade that would have sent Paul to the Lakers. Instead, he was dealt shortly after to the Clippers, and he has teamed with Griffin to make them one of the league’s most exciting and improved teams, leading the Pacific Division over their Staples Center co-tenants.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be voted as an All-Star starter,” Paul said. “I want to thank the fans for their support. It’s even more special to be starting with one of my teammates.”

Griffin and Bynum are first-time starters, while Bryant earned his record-tying 14th consecutive nod.

It’s the first time since 1997, when Houston had Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley, and Seattle sent Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, that two pairs of teammates have been voted to start for one conference.

Bryant joins Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West and Karl Malone — all one-time Lakers — with his 14th straight starting nod. He earned his fourth All-Star MVP award last year, equaling Bob Pettit’s NBA record.

Bynum grabbed the starting center spot that for years went to Yao Ming, who retired last summer. Griffin was chosen as a reserve forward last year, when he became the first rookie All-Star since Yao in 2003.

Starters were chosen by fan balloting, and none of the races was close. The reserves will be chosen by voting of the head coaches from each conference and will be announced next Thursday.

Bryant led all West players with nearly 1.6 million votes. Rose collected 1.5 million to finish third among all players, a year after becoming Chicago’s first starter since Michael Jordan.

“I remember not being in the All-Star game, just wanting to be in the game. It’s something you should take to heart, that I take to heart,” Rose said before the Bulls’ game against the Knicks. “Just want to accomplish something special while I’m in the league, and one of the accomplishments is being on the All-Star team.”

Howard will make his fifth consecutive start, and his status will provide much of the intrigue surrounding the event. He has told the Magic he wants to be traded and they have given his agent permission to talk to select teams, putting the franchise in a difficult position of deciding whether it should deal its superstar before hosting the weekend.

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Forwards
x-Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City, 1,345,566; x-Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers, 876,451; Pau Gasol, L.A. Lakers, 470,353; Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas, 468,435; Kevin Love, Minnesota, 373,880; LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland, 279,500; Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 185,069; Lamar Odom, Dallas, 142,830; Danilo Gallinari, Denver, 110,245; Rudy Gay, Memphis, 95,228.
Guards
x-Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, 1,555,479; x-Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers, 1,138,743; Ricky Rubio, Minnesota, 397,456; Steve Nash, Phoenix, 276,268; Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City, 262,186; Kyle Lowry, Houston, 185,584; Monta Ellis, Golden State, 156,603; Chauncey Billups, L.A. Clippers, 120,961; Jason Kidd, Dallas, 114,924; Manu Ginobili, San Antonio, 111,273.
Centers
x-Andrew Bynum, L.A. Lakers, 1,051,945; DeAndre Jordan, L.A. Clippers, 322,056; Marc Gasol, Memphis, 285,525; Nene, Denver, 207,102; Marcin Gortat, Phoenix, 136,168; Kendrick Perkins, Oklahoma City, 99,811.

Bynum had 11 rebounds, while Pau Gasol had 10 points and Andrew Goudelock keyed a big night for the bench with 12 points in the Lakers’ last home game before beginning their annual Grammy trip on Friday at Denver. The Lakers’ reserves outscored the Bobcats 48-30.

It was the Lakers’ biggest victory against the Bobcats, who had beaten Los Angeles in eight of their previous 11 meetings.

Gerald Henderson scored 14 points in his return after a two-game absence because of a lower back contusion for the Bobcats, who fell to 1-11 on the road and 3-19 overall.