Danilo Gallinari scored 20 points, Ty Lawson had 17 points and
10 assists and the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 99-90
on Sunday night.

Nene had 13 points for the Nuggets, who avenged a three-point
loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles less than 24 hours earlier.

Pau Gasol had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Andrew Bynum had 18
points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers. Kobe Bryant scored 16 points
on 6-of-28 shooting.

After a seesaw battle for most of the final period, the Nuggets
scored the final 11 points to pull out the win.

Gallinari scored two fast-break layups to give Denver a
two-point lead with 2:07 left. After Gasol missed a short
turnaround jumper, Lawson’s layup gave the Nuggets a 94-90 lead
with 1:20 left.

Bryant missed a 3-pointer from the top of the circle and
Harrington hit a 12-foot jumper to make it 96-90 with 49 seconds
left.

The Lakers took a 90-88 lead on Bryant’s layup with 2:47 left
and didn’t score again.

Trailing by 11 at halftime, the Lakers came out strong in the
third quarter. Bynum scored seven points in the first four minutes,
including a three-point play that tied it at 50-all.

Denver didn’t hit its first field goal of the second half until
Lawson’s drive gave the Nuggets the lead back with 7:03 left.
Gallinari followed with Denver’s first 3-pointer of the game to
make it 55-50.

Denver’s lead grew to nine late in the third before the Lakers
made another run to pull to 72-71 heading into the fourth.

Bryant missed his first five shots and committed two offensive
fouls before sitting in the final minute of the first quarter. He
returned midway through the second, hit a 3-pointer but missed his
next four.

The Lakers team didn’t fare any better. Los Angeles missed its
last 11 shots of the first half and shot just 32 percent at the
break.

The Nuggets struggled from the field, too, missing all nine of
their 3-point shots before the break, but they surged at the end of
the second quarter. Leading 39-36, Al Harrington hit four free
throws and had a nice interior pass to set up a dunk by Chris
Andersen that helped Denver take a 47-36 lead at halftime.

NOTES: Denver was 2 for 18 from 3-point range. … The Lakers
have played six games in the first eight days of the season,
including three in three nights to open the schedule. … Lawson
has scored in double figures in four of Denver’s first five games.
… Denver came into Sunday second in scoring in the NBA but 24th
in 3-point shooting.

LOS ANGELES — Danilo Gallinari wears confidence like it’s some fancy fragrance you can’t pronounce.

He has a perpetual aura, with his 6-foot-10 swagger, his clothing modeling gigs, his hair tousled just so. And yet he’s still a friendly fellow, like the high school quarterback who says hi to the chess team in the hall.

But in the Nuggets’ first four games, notably the past two, Gallinari’s lack of confidence has been ghastly. In Denver’s heartbreaking 92-89 Saturday loss at the Lakers, the Italian forward actually airballed a 3-pointer and later missed a layup, both in the final minute.

Denver was down two with about 10 ticks left on the clock, when Gallinari threw his hand in the face of Kobe Bryant. Upon Bryant’s missed jumper, Gallinari ripped down court, frighteningly open. Steve Blake leapt and tried to “change his shot just a little bit.”

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(Reuters) – Center Andrew Bynum scored 29 points in his first game of the season after serving a suspension as the Los Angeles Lakers came from behind to beat the Denver Nuggets 92-89 Saturday.

Bynum’s layup sent the Lakers ahead 91-89 with 1:52 to play as they powered past Denver’s five-point fourth-quarter lead.

He had been suspended for the first four games of the shortened NBA season because of a flagrant foul against Dallas in the Western Conference playoffs last season.

Bynum had been originally suspended for five games but that was reduced because of the shortened schedule.

The big man also had 13 rebounds and two blocked shots as new coach Mike Brown’s coaching style suited his play.

“They’re looking for me a lot and I’m a focal point early in the offense,” Bynum told reporters.

But he paid a price in the early going, he said.

“I was winded like crazy today,” the out-of-shape Bynum said. “First game … I couldn’t breathe in the first six minutes.”

But even if he was winded, his domination inside was too much for the Nuggets to handle.

“His power around the basket, we haven’t seen it yet,” Denver coach George Karl told reporters. “We’ll have to make some adjustments on him, there’s no question.”

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol each added 17 points for the Lakers, who had started the season 0-2 but have now won three successive games.

Al Harrington led the Nuggets with 21 points.

The Nuggets had an 85-80 lead after Harrington’s three-pointer with five minutes to play.

But the Lakers pulled even at 89-89 on Bryant’s two free throws after Derek Fisher’s hustle to save the ball after missing a three-pointer.

Then Bynum blocked Nene Hilario’s layup attempt and got the go-ahead basket.

Meanwhile, Denver was drawing blanks.

“We get three layups and a couple free throws in the last three minutes of the game and we miss all of them,” Karl said.

“We gave them too much hope, from Bynum and that loose ball from Fisher, and we never got that defensive confidence because we didn’t rebound the ball.”

(Reporting By Gene Cherry in Salvo North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

Andrew Bynum provided the Los Angeles Lakers with a powerful performance in his season debut, following a four-game suspension that carried over from the playoffs.

It all would have been for naught, however, had it not been for some clutch shooting in the fourth quarter by Kobe Bryant and a couple of equally critical hustle plays by Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol in the final minutes.

Bynum scored 29 points on 13 for 18 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds, leading the Lakers to a 92-89 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. The 7-foot center played 31 1/2 grueling minutes, helping the Lakers win their third straight following their first 0-2 start since 2002-03.

“They were looking for me a lot. I was a focal point early in the offense, so I knew the quicker I got down the court, the better it was,” said Bynum, who made four of his first five shots and finished the first quarter with 10 points. “I was winded like crazy. I couldn’t breathe in the first six minutes. Defensively, getting back and all those things require me to be in better condition. So it’s going to take a little while.”

Bynum was suspended without pay for the first four games because of a flagrant foul against Dallas’ J.J. Barea in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals. The original ban was five games, but was reduced on Dec. 23 as a result of a shortened schedule caused by the lockout.

“I really didn’t have the highest expectations,” said the seven-year veteran, who totaled 41 points and 23 rebounds in two preseason games against the Clippers. “I just wanted to come out and be aggressive. I wanted to get it down low, and when I got it, I made shots.”

Bryant, bogged down by foul trouble, had 17 points along with nine assists and 10 rebounds. The Lakers overcame 2-for-24 shooting from 3-point range.

Reserve forward Al Harrington had 21 points for the Nuggets, who have lost 25 of their last 29 road games against the Lakers.

“The game of basketball treats you badly sometimes,” Denver coach George Karl said. “No one feels very good right now. They hurt us rebounding the ball and they hurt us with Bynum’s power underneath the basket. They’ve very good at playing an aggressive style of disrupting you, with guys coming at you on pick-and-rolls.”

The Lakers missed their first 12 shots from 3-point range — all in the first half — before Matt Barnes connected with 11:11 left in the third to put Los Angeles ahead 49-47. The Nuggets weren’t much better from behind the arc, missing nine of their first 10 before finishing up 7 for 26.

Trailing 71-69 after three quarters, the Lakers tied it four times before Harrington’s 3-pointer gave Denver an 85-80 lead with 5:29 to play. Bynum guided in a pass above the rim from Bryant and converted the ensuing free throw to narrow the gap to 89-87 with 3:23 left.

Fisher, who fouled out with six points in his 500th consecutive game, missed a 3-point shot trying to beat the 24-second clock — but hustled all the way to the other side of the court to fall on the loose ball and managed to get a timeout with 2:29 remaining and the Lakers still down by two.

“I haven’t seen it on tape yet, and I’m sure it doesn’t look very graceful. But I’m glad it helped us get a win,” the 37-year-old Fisher said with a chuckle. “You see a ball free and you go for it, especially at that time of the game. To make hustle plays and do the little things, that’s the team that we’re becoming — a team that can figure out a way to grind out wins.

“Once I saw the ball bounce long (Ty) Lawson and I were kind of bumping into each other shoulder-to-shoulder and I started to lose my balance,” Fisher explained. “So it was somewhat surprising that I was still able to figure out a way to find the basketball as I was stumbling and regain control before going out of bounds.”

Bryant tied it 89-all with a pair of free throws, and Bynum blocked a layup by Nene with 2 minutes left before converting a layup at the other end for a 91-89 lead with 1:50 to go.

The Nuggets had a few opportunities to pull it out. But Gasol blocked a layup by Lawson, who missed two free throws the next time the Nuggets had possession. Danilo Gallinari had a chance to tie it, but blew an easy fast-break layup with Steve Blake on his heels after Bryant missed a jumper at the other end.

“We get three layups and a couple of free throws in the last three minutes, and we miss all of them,” Karl lamented. “Our offensive confidence is a little short right now.”

Fisher’s consecutive-game streak is the longest among active NBA players. Former Lakers forward A.C. Green, a teammate of Fisher’s during the 1999-00 season, holds the league record with 1,192 in a row.

‘That’s what’s so amazing about what he was able to accomplish — especially as a big guy out there banging with the best of them,” Fisher said. “For him to be able to have done what it took mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically to be prepared to go to work every single day for all those seasons was a big-time example for me.

“It’s not like I’m chasing any type of number, but I just try to bring the same mentality to work, whether it’s 500 or 1,000. I’m nowhere close to his streak, but I still take great pride in coming to work every day. Those experiences with him were great. We talked a lot and I learned a lot from him.”

Bryant, who averaged 27.8 points through the first four games despite playing with a torn ligament in his right wrist, missed his first three shots and played more than 14 scoreless minutes before ending the drought on a floater that put the Lakers ahead 38-36 with 3:40 left in the second quarter.

Notes: The Lakers have played six times on New Year’s Eve since coming to Los Angeles — all at home (5-1). Their rematch with the Nuggets on Sunday night will mark the first time the Lakers have played on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in the same season since 1959-60, when the franchise was based in Minneapolis. … Bryant needs four points to become the sixth player in history to reach 28,000.

Andrew Bynum had 29 points and 13 rebounds in his season debut following a four-game suspension that carried over from the playoffs, and the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 92-89, on Saturday afternoon at Staples Center.

Bynum shot 13 for 18, helping the Lakers win their third straight following the team’s first 0-2 start since 2002-03.

The 7-foot center was suspended without pay for the first four games of the season because of a flagrant foul against Dallas point guard Jose Barea in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals. The original ban was five games, but was reduced on Dec. 23 as a result of a shortened schedule caused by the NBA lockout.

Bynum totaled 41 points and 23 rebounds in two preseason games against the Clippers.

Kobe Bryant, bogged down by foul trouble, had 17 points along with nine assists and 10 rebounds. The Lakers overcame 2-for-24 shooting from three-point range.

Reserve forward Al Harrington had 21 points for the Nuggets, who have lost 25 of their last 29 road games against the Lakers.

The Lakers missed their first 12 shots from 3-point range — all of them in the first half — before Matt Barnes connected with 11:11 left in the third to put Los Angeles ahead 49-47. The Nuggets weren’t much better from behind the arc, missing nine of their first 10 before finishing up 7 for 26.

Trailing 71-69 after three quarters, the Lakers tied it four times before Harrington’s 3-pointer gave Denver an 85-80 lead with 5:29 to play. Bynum guided in a pass above the rim from Bryant and converted the ensuing free throw to narrow the gap to 89-87 with 3:23 left.

Derek Fisher, who fouled out with six points in his 500th consecutive game, missed a 3-point shot trying to beat the 24-second clock — but hustled all the way to the other side of the court to fall on the loose ball and get a timeout with 2:29 remaining and the Lakers still down by two.

Bryant tied it 89-all with a pair of free throws and Bynum blocked a layup by Nene with 2 minutes left before converting a layup at the other end for a 91-89 lead with 1:50 to go.

The Nuggets had a few opportunities to pull it out. But Gasol blocked a layup by Ty Lawson, who then missed two free throws the next time the Nuggets had possession. Danilo Gallinari had a chance to tie it, but blew an easy fast-break layup after a missed jumper by Bryant at the other end.

Bynum made four of his first five shots and finished the first quarter with 10 points. Bryant, who averaged 27.8 points through the first four games despite playing with a torn ligament in his right wrist, missed his first three shots and played more than 14 scoreless minutes before ending the drought on a floater that put the Lakers ahead 38-36 with 3:40 left in the second quarter.