LOS ANGELES – Pau Gasol scored a team-high 25 points and Andrew Bynum added 14 rebounds before being ejected to help the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-98 Friday.
Minnesota led 51-49 at halftime and then 94-93 with 3:52 left on the clock but Spanish forward Gasol knocked in a two-point jump shot to spark an unbroken eight-point run by the Lakers as they regained control in a physical encounter.
All-Star guard Kobe Bryant scored 18 points for Los Angeles, despite a sprained left ankle, while Shannon Brown contributed 14 from the bench on five-for-seven shooting.
The (49-20) Lakers, who have won 11 of 12 games since the All-Star break, move one game ahead of the (48-21) Dallas Mavericks into sole second place in the Western Conference.
"It was a difficult game," Lakers coach Phil Jackson told reporters. "We kind of anticipated it. The first half was erratic at best, second half we played a little bit better."
Wes Johnson top-scored with a career-high 29 points for the Timberwolves, who suffered their 15th successive defeat at the hands of the Lakers and now lie second-last in the West.
Seven-foot center Bynum was ejected with 6:16 remaining for a flagrant foul while driving past Michael Beasley, who fell to the floor.
"He was going to go block the shot but he was too late so he just bumped him, just gave up on the ball ... he didn't do it in a way that was malicious," Jackson said.
Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis agreed.
"That's playoff basketball, they're gearing up for it," said Rambis, a former player and coach at the Lakers.
"I thought it was good for our guys to see how rough and physical a game can be, that's a good thing for our learning experience.
"I thought our guys did a really good job when the ball came, offensively and defensively we played a very mindful game for the most part and gave ourselves a chance to win."
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