LA Lakers 87, Denver 86

DENVER, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Kobe Bryant, trying fill the offensive hole left by Shaquille O'Neal and doing his part on the boards as well,scored 22 of his 28 points in the second half and grabbed two huge offensive rebounds in the final two minutes to lift the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night to an 87-86 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Bryant is more than capable of picking up the offensive slack for the 7-2 O'Neal, who has missed the last five games with a bad toe. No one can match the 330-pound O'Neal's dominant rebounding presence, but the 6-7 Bryant's efforts crashing the boards helped the Lakers escape with a win.

Bryant scored 14 points in the third quarter, but Denver went on a 13-4 run bridging the final two periods and had an 86-82 lead before Bryant nailed a turaround jumper with 2:12 left.

Bryant misfired on his next attempt but grabbed the rebound and dished to Samaki Walker, who was fouled with 95 seconds left and made 1-of-2 free throws.

After a shot by Denver's Nick Van Exel barely grazed the rim, Bryant launched an airball, but the ball hit a crowd under the basket and bounced back to him. He quickly turned and fired in a jumper from the top of the key as the shot clock expired.

The Nuggets missed two shots on their final possession and lost for the sixth time in seven games.

After making just 1-of-5 shots in the first half, Bryant was 10-of-17 in the second half as Los Angeles defeated Denver for the third time in as many meetings this season.

Rick Fox scored 17 points and Walker finished with 14 and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who improved to 3-2 since O'Neal was placed on the injured list last Tuesday.

Van Exel scored 25 points and Voshon Lenard added 22 for the Nuggets, who fell to 3-5 under interim coach Mike Evans.