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Friday, Jan. 12 10:30pm ET
O'Neal, Bryant combine for 66 points

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't talk any more about his simmering feud with Kobe Bryant. His play on the court spoke volumes.

Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal powered through the Cavs for 34 points and 23 rebounds.

In one of his most dominant performances of the season, O'Neal had 34 points and a season-high 23 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 101-98 victory over Cleveland in their first game since the squabble between Los Angeles' two superstars surfaced earlier this week.

"He was very much a power inside," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of O'Neal. "He took care of business, and he made some free throws, too."

Bryant was no slouch, either. He scored 32 points, 12 in the fourth quarter as the Lakers barely held off the Cavaliers.

"Kobe and Shaq are two very good players. We played them as well as we could," Cleveland coach Randy Wittman said. "When was the last time Shaq was 50 percent at the free throw line? And Kobe got them going in the second half."

Jackson agreed.

"It was a good performance by both those guys," the Lakers' coach said, noting that O'Neal dominated early before Bryant took over the in fourth quarter when O'Neal's poor free throw shooting often becomes an issue.

"It's a pattern with this team. When they start fouling Shaq, it dictates that Kobe steps up," Jackson said.

There were no obvious signs of the squabble between O'Neal and Bryant during the game, with the two trading the usual handslaps after baskets and free throws.

O'Neal ducked out of the locker room and avoided reporters after the game, but Bryant said: "I wanted to get him some touches, get him the ball, get him going in the offense. We can't have the big fella being unhappy. I want to win; he wants to win."

The win was the ninth victory in the past 11 games for the defending champions, who hadn't played since a 118-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last Sunday.

The Cavaliers, led by Lamond Murray's 25 points, took the Lakers down to the wire, but O'Neal made five of 10 free throws in the final 3:40 to help Los Angeles maintain the lead, and Bryant made four free throws in the last 21 seconds. O'Neal hit eight of 16 free throws and was 13-of-19 from the floor. Bryant was just 10-of-25 from the floor, but connected on 10 of his 11 tries from the foul line.

The Cavaliers have lost 10 of their past 12 on the heels of a seven-game winning streak that put them at 15-7.

Andre Miller added 23 points for Cleveland and Chris Gatling had 17.

Rick Fox added 13 points for Los Angeles and Isaiah Rider had 12.

O'Neal did most of the scoring for the Lakers in the first half, with 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting as Los Angeles took a 49-44 lead. The Lakers' center also had 15 rebounds by halftime.

Bryant took just six shots in the first half. He made two of them and finished with seven points.

The Lakers opened a seven-point lead on Bryant's 3-pointer on a feed from O'Neal that made it 44-36 with 4:29 left in the second quarter, but Los Angeles could not pull away

Murray kept Cleveland close with 19 first-half points.

Los Angeles was up 27-23 at the end of the opening quarter, moving in front for the first time on O'Neal's jumper for a 19-17 edge with 3:10 left in the period.

Game notes
Jackson doesn't intend to place a gag order on O'Neal and Bryant, saying, "No, this is America. The commissioner says you must talk to people or else you get fined. The interesting thing is that the players had a meeting on their own Monday before any of this even happened, and they pretty much tried to close the circle a little bit and tighten it up." ... Twelve of the Cavaliers' 17 losses have come in the road, where they've won just six times.


ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Cleveland Clubhouse

LA Lakers Clubhouse


Lakers try to make best of difficult Shaq-Kobe situation

Magic to feuding stars: It's all about the winning

Aldridge: Shaq, Kobe are right and wrong


RECAPS
Philadelphia 86
Washington 82

Toronto 93
Boston 72

San Antonio 111
Detroit 90

Minnesota 95
LA Clippers 89

Charlotte 86
Chicago 85

Denver 106
Sacramento 93

Seattle 115
Vancouver 102

LA Lakers 101
Cleveland 98

FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT

Kobe Bryant Official Site

Rick Fox Official Site

Mark Madsen Official Site


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