Lakers don't dominate but they still beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-86

Though the Lakers do not seem as dominating a they did at the earlier stage of the season - they are still winning the games. At the beginning of the season the Lakers would blow out their opponents early and then Bryant would rest most of, or sometimes the entire fourth quarter. For now, those day are over.

Yes, the Lakers did win with a fourth quarter surge to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-86 but sometimes it seems like they just have to work to hard to beat a losing team like the T-Wolves.

Kobe Bryant had 26 points to lead the Lakers and Pau Gasol had a good overall game as he scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 6 assist and blocked 3 shots. Bynum had 14 points and 9 rebound and Ariza came off the bench to contribute 14 points.

The Lakers didn't shoot the ball good in the game, only 44.7%. The key was that Minnesota shot even worse at 36.1%.

Lamar Odom was very disappointed with the Lakers play in the game.

"We can't hold a lead. These guys (Bryant and Gasol) have to come back into the game (in the fourth quarter). That's awful," said Lamar Odom, who had six points and 10 rebounds. "We want to play the same way all the time. That's what great teams do.

The Timberwolves trailed 76-70 before a basket by Ariza and four straight points by Bryant gave the Lakers a 12-point lead with 4½ minutes remaining. Minnesota didn't threaten after that.

Al Jefferson had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead Minnesota, but he shot 8-of-24, missing 15 of his last 19 shots. Craig Smith added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Ryan Gomes scored 13 for the Timberwolves (4-19), who lost their ninth straight game and fourth in a row since Kevin McHale took over as coach last Monday.