Kobe Bryant had 34 points and eight rebounds, Lamar Odom just missed a triple-double, and Los Angeles took command in the third period en route to a 106-99 victory over the Spurs on Sunday night for its fifth win in six games.
"I think that's the best defensive quarter I've played in as a Laker," said Odom, in his third season with the team. "It was just effort, energy, rotating, talking. We got our hands on so many passes. That was the difference tonight."
Odom had 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and Luke Walton added 17 points for the Lakers (14-6), who snapped San Antonio's four-game winning streak and handed the Spurs just their third loss in 11 road games this season.
The Lakers trailed by five points before outscoring the Spurs 24-6 in the last five minutes of the third period for an 83-70 lead, and they were on top the rest of the way. Odom scored nine points and Bryant and Walton added five each during the spurt.
"We had an inspirational third quarter that carried us," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "There are some things we learned tonight that I think as a team helped us grow up a little bit."
Jackson wouldn't identify what those things were.
"I thought the Lakers' pressure was great in the second half and we folded under that pressure -- absolutely folded. End of story," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
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