In a poor shooting game, Kobe Bryant came through when the Los Angeles Lakers needed him the most. And then he nearly blew it about 10 seconds later.
Bryant banked in a running 12-foot jumper over Caron Butler with 25 seconds left last night, then went 1 for 2 on free throws 10 seconds later, but the best-in-the-West Lakers eked out a 106-104 victory against the worst-in-the-East Wizards at Verizon Center in Washington. After Bryant's miss at the line -- he made all 13 other free throws he took -- Butler had a chance to win it for Washington but missed a 3-point attempt shortly before the buzzer.
Bryant was 5 for 17 from the field and finished with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
"We got a little complacent," acknowledged Bryant. "We could be playing much better. Games like this don't sit right with you."
Lakers coach Phil Jackson's assessment?
"Poor coaching," he said. "That's what it was. Putting too much trust and faith in a younger group -- a second unit. I'm going to have to change it up a little bit."
Butler led the Wizards with 26 points.
Other games
* Cavaliers 97, Pacers 73: The wigs were fake. Everything else about host Cleveland was very real. With thousands of Cleveland fans wearing curly, red-headed hair pieces in his honor, Anderson Varejao didn't miss a shot and scored 17 points in the first half as the Cavaliers, despite getting a season-low 11 points from LeBron James, won their seventh in a row.
* Celtics 93, Trail Blazers 78: Ray Allen scored 19 points for Boston, and Rajon Rondo followed his first career triple-double with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in a win against visiting Portland. Boston's 11th consecutive win -- its longest streak since its championship-winning season of 1985-86 -- snapped Portland's six-game winning streak.
* Nets 113, Timberwolves 84: Vince Carter scored 18 points, and Yi Jianlian and Devin Harris each had 16 to help host New Jerseys rout Minnesota.
* Hawks 98, Knicks 95: Marvin Williams scored 18 points, and host Atlanta beat New York, avoiding overtime when the Knicks' Al Harrington missed a last-second 3-pointer.
* Magic 98, Thunder 89: Dwight Howard had 21 points and 23 rebounds to lead host Orlando to a victory against Oklahoma City.
* Grizzlies 93, Clippers 81: Rudy Gay had 25 points as host Memphis (4-14) defeated Los Angeles (3-15) in a battle of three-win teams.
* 76ers 96, Pistons 91: Donyell Marshall's 3-pointer with 35 seconds left lifted short-handed Philadelphia past host Detroit. Philadelphia was missing scoring leader Elton Brand (hamstring). Andre Miller led the 76ers with 18 points and Marshall finished with eight.
* Rockets 131, Warriors 112: Yao Ming scored 19 of his season-high 33 points in the fourth quarter and had 14 rebounds as host Houston outlasted Golden State.
* Bucks 101, Bobcats 96: Michael Redd scored 25 points, and Richard Jefferson added 22 for host Milwaukee, including two free throws with nine seconds left, in the win.
* Jazz 114, Raptors 87: Mehmet Okur had 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting in host Utah's victory against Toronto in Jay Triano's first game as the Raptors' interim coach.
