LOS ANGELES — For a guy who has seemingly played the entire season in considerable
pain due to one injury or another, Kobe Bryant was feeling pretty good
Sunday — until it was pointed out that he seems to be indestructible.

“Don’t
jinx me, man. Don’t jinx me,” Bryant said following the Lakers’ 93-83
win over the Miami Heat at Staples Center. “But if I can walk and I can
run, I’m gonna play.” And usually play very well.

Wearing a
bothersome face mask to protect the broken nose he suffered when the
Heat’s Dwyane Wade mauled him in the All-Star Game, Bryant has scored
102 points in the three games since, all Lakers victories. On Sunday he
shot 14 of 23 from the field for 33 points, leading the Lakers to their
first win over Miami since LeBron James joined the team. James had 25
points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.

Metta World Peace had
17 points and seven rebounds for LA, while Andrew Bynum had 16 points
and 13 rebounds. Pau Gasol added 11 points and 10 boards. The bench also
stepped up on both ends of the floor, actually increasing the Lakers’
lead from seven to 16 points in the second quarter.

Bryant
said prior to the game that this was an important test for the improving
Lakers, to see how they match up with one of the NBA’s elite, and a
team they lost to by 11 on Jan. 19 in Miami.

“We did
extremely well,” Bryant said. “I felt like we’re much better than we
were when we played them in Miami. We matched their physicality and
their energy, which was a big problem for us in Miami. I thought (the
win) was very impressive.

“It’s fun to compete against the
best. It’s always enjoyable. They pose so many problems on the offensive
end and the defensive, so it’s always a fun matchup.”

And it
was even more enjoyable for the Lakers to watch Wade, who scored 16
points, foul out with 5:14 left in the game and the Heat trailing by
just seven. The Heat already were without forward Chris Bosh, who missed
his third straight game following the death of his grandmother.

“He’s
a huge part of their team,” Bryant said of Bosh, who’s averaging 18.4
points and 8.3 rebounds. “He can go inside, he can go outside and he
causes problems on the defensive end.”

For Heat coach Eric
Spoelstra, not having Bosh is no excuse for the loss — the Heat’s second
in a row, dropping them two games behind Chicago for the top spot in
the East.

“Chris is a major component to what we do on both
ends of the court, that’s why we don’t listen to anybody when they
(criticize) Chris’ importance,” Spoelstra said firmly. “He’s one of the
very best players in this league, but more importantly he has a great
impact on how we play. He settles us. He’s very even.

“But we’re a no-excuses team and this is a no-excuses season.”

Unlike
the All-Star Game and Friday night’s loss to the Utah Jazz, in which
LeBron passed to a teammate for a possible tying or winning shot instead
of taking it himself, Sunday’s loss produced no excuses from James. He
had his usual outstanding all-around performance and gave the Lakers
credit for simply outplaying his team.

“(In Utah) we gave
ourselves a chance to win but we just couldn’t finish it,” James
lamented. “(Today) was a little bit different. They played exceptionally
well and came away with another win on their home court.

“That’s
a good team. That’s a really good team. They’re 16-2 at home for a
reason. They’re one of the best teams in the league at home.”

On the road, however, it’s a much different story.

The
Lakers have lost two-thirds of their games away from Staples Center,
going 6-12, and if they want to be taken seriously as a championship
contender, they’ve got to improve dramatically in their last 15 road
games.

“We’ll be all right,” Bryant said. “I have no doubts
about that. We’ve been playing a lot better (on the road) than we were
earlier in the season. It’s just about understanding what your strengths
are and playing to that. The testament to any championship team is to
understand what your weaknesses are and protect those, then understand
what your strengths are and playing to those.

“I feel like we’re starting to figure out how to support each other in that department.”

LOS ANGELES —
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has long called Chris Bosh the team’s “most important player.” That declaration gained traction over the weekend.

The 93-83 loss to the Lakers on Sunday marked the first time the Heat has lost back-to-back games since early January. The Heat survived a long stretch with Dwyane Wade out of the lineup but fell apart quickly without Bosh.

“No question about it, Chris Bosh is a major component to what we do on both ends of the court,” Spoelstra said. “That’s why we don’t listen to anybody when they talk about Chris’s importance or value. He’s one of the best players in this league, but more importantly, he has a great impact on how we play, and he settles us.”

Bosh has missed the Heat’s past three games following the death of his grandmother. He’s expected to rejoin the team Tuesday. Spoelstra said the team learned on Saturday that Bosh wouldn’t be traveling to Los Angeles.

“When you miss a guy like that you lose a lot,” said Udonis Haslem, who started in place of Bosh against the Lakers. “But it’s no excuse. We had a chance to win in Utah, and we were in the game [Sunday]. So, I can’t really say that’s why we lost.”

WORLD PEACE

Lakers forward Metta World Peace, the player formerly known as Ron Artest, entered Sunday averaging 5.3 points and 23.1 minutes per game.

He scored 17 points against the Heat in 38 minutes.

After the game, the Los Angeles media was ready to crown him the reason the Lakers’ dominant victory against one of the best teams in the league, but World Peace deflected the praise.

“I don’t determine how good we are based on how I play,” World Peace said.

While World Peace was humble about his offensive effort against the Heat, he was in no way bashful about his defensive performance.

He held LeBron James to 25 points.

“I want to answer this as honest as I can,” World Peace said. “I’m one of the best defensive players ever. I’m one of the best defensive players ever to play on the wing. Sometimes the media hides away from that fact.”

HASLEM’S FUNK

Haslem went 0 of 5 on Sunday and became slightly defensive when asked if the effect of missing the game winner on Friday contributed to his poor shooting effort Sunday.

“Nah, man,” Haslem said. “I don’t put pressure on myself. That shot is over with.

“Like I said, if I was dependent on scoring then I would be getting 20 shots. I’m not depended on to score. I’m depended on to make them when I get them, but it’s not for me to go out and score 20.”

Haslem is shooting 41.7 percent from the field this season but is 7 of 22 since the All-Star break. He missed several shots badly Sunday. In particular, his signature baseline jumper from 15 to 18 feet was well off the mark several times. Haslem said he’s not worried about the misses.

“When I get my four or five shots, I try to make them, but my main mind-set is defend and rebound, and if shots fall, they fall,” Haslem said. “If not, I still got to defend and rebound. We got other guys that score the ball. We got other guys to run plays for.

“I’m tired of really taking about shooting.”

Haslem said he learned “right before the game” that he was going to be starting his first game since April 2009. Haslem filled in for Bosh at power forward and defended Lakers big man Pau Gasol.

Haslem said the short notice didn’t affect his preparation.

“It’s just basketball,” Haslem said. “That didn’t change anything.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)

Looking ahead to the prospect of facing the Trail Blazers without Chris Bosh, Heat coach Eric Spoelstra told LeBron James he was going to need a ”Magic Johnson-type” night from him.

James delivered.

The Miami star scored 38 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and added six assists and five steals, to lead Heat to a 107-93 victory in Portland on Thursday night.

It was the ninth straight win for the Heat, who at 28-7 are off to their best 35-game start in franchise history.

Dwyane Wade added 33 points and 10 assists for the Heat in their first game since the All-Star break. Miami hadn’t played since a 102-88 victory at home over the New York Knicks last Thursday.

The Heat were without Bosh because of a death in his family. The All-Star was also expected to miss Friday night’s game at Utah, but it is not yet known whether he will play Sunday when Miami visits the Los Angeles Lakers.

Spoelstra said he approached James at shootaround, saying he needed a little bit of everything from his star.

”Really, it was as simple as this: `We need a Magic Johnson-type, not necessarily performance, but awareness,”’ Spoelstra said. ”Man, he really took the challenge. It’s his ability to do all these different things in the course of one game.”

James said he, in turn, told his teammates that he was going to guard everyone.

”We had a big piece of our team out, so I definitely had to step up my game to bring home this win,” he said.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points for the Blazers, who were coming off a 104-95 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night. Portland (18-18) has lost eight of its last 12 games.

It was never much of a contest, and the Blazers trailed by as many as 25.

Aldridge, coming off his first All-Star appearance, was clearly frustrated.

”I’m at the point where we can’t keep talking about what we need to do,” he said. ”We have to go out and do it.”

Before the game, the Blazers activated center Joel Przybilla, who was signed by the team earlier this week.

Przybilla, who spent more than six seasons in Portland before he was traded to Charlotte last season, has not played since last March. An 11-year NBA veteran, the 7-foot-1 center finished with four points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in 19 minutes.

A fan favorite, he was treated to a standing ovation by the Rose Garden crowd.

”Miami is on a mission. They are focused on winning a championship,” Przybilla said afterward. ”And we want to get where they are, we want to get to the level they’re at.”

The Blazers jumped out to an early 14-6 lead, but the Heat came back to tie it on Wade’s lob pass to James for the dunk. James and Wade combined for all of Miami’s points to that point.

The Heat extended the lead to 30-21 on Mario Chalmers’ jumper. They kept the Blazers at bay the rest of the half, going up 45-34 on Udonis Haslem’s 15-foot jumper before taking a 60-42 lead into the break. James and Wade accounted for 41 of the team’s points.

The second half was more of the same. James went to the bench in the fourth quarter with the Heat still holding a sizable lead. But the Blazers chipped away a bit, coming to within 91-78 on Wesley Matthews’ reverse layup.

James’ break was brief and the Blazers got as close as 95-85 on Nicolas Batum’s 3-pointer with 4:35 left. James answered on the other end with a 3-pointer of his own.

James has scored 30 or more points in 15 games this season. Wade has scored at least 20 points in 10 straight games.

Last season, James scored 44 points against the Blazers, a record-high for an opponent at the Rose Garden, in a 107-100 overtime victory for the Heat. The road team has won the last five games in the series.

Blazers coach Nate McMillan said he was proud that his team didn’t ”fold up the tent,” when it was clear they weren’t going to win.

”I don’t think our guys did that tonight. They kept scrapping,” he said. ”We had a slow second quarter. That was the big quarter for us. But for the most part, I thought we kept competing.”

Notes: Spoelstra was selected as the NBA’s Eastern Conference coach of the month on Thursday after leading Miami to a league-best 11-2 record in February. It’s the third time he has earned the honor. … Former Blazer Scottie Pippen was at the game. … Batum cut his lip in the second half but returned. … The game was the only meeting between the Heat and the Blazers this season. … Portland placed C-F Kurt Thomas on the inactive list because of a concussion he sustained the night before in Portland’s loss at Denver. … It was Miami’s fifth straight win on the road.

CHICAGO – Back to his usual havoc-wreaking ways, LeBron James took control when it counted and the Miami Heat sent out a loud message in the process.

They’re ready for a “street fight,” if that’s the route to the NBA finals.

James came up big down the stretch to finish with 29 points, Dwyane Wade scored 24 and Miami beat the Chicago Bulls 85-75 Wednesday night to tie the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.

The Heat can breathe a little easier after escaping with a win and stealing home-court advantage. Coming off a lopsided loss in Game 1, they recovered down the stretch after blowing an 11-point lead to pull even in the series, with Game 3 in Miami on Sunday.

“The series has just started,” James said. “It’s 1-1. We’re excited that we were able to come here and get a win. But it’s just started.”

James shook off a brutal opener and scored nine points over the final 4:27, starting with a 3-pointer that put Miami ahead for good, 76-73. He also had 10 rebounds despite a head cold, and Miami outrebounded the Bulls 45-41 after getting pounded 45-33 on the glass in the opener.

“That fourth quarter is going to epitomize this entire series,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after his team outscored Chicago 14-10 in the period. “It’s an absolute street fight for both teams.”

For James, it was big turnaround after he managed just 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting while being harassed by Luol Deng in Game 1.

Wade also looked more like a superstar after scoring 18 on Sunday and chipped in with nine rebounds.

Udonis Haslem, whom Spoelstra called “an absolute championship warrior,” provided a spark off the bench with 13 points, and the Heat beat the Bulls for the first time this season even though Chris Bosh scored just 10 after pouring in 30 in the opener.

“We got that one that we needed,” Wade said. “Now, we go home and we’ve got to take care of business. This team right here is like us. They can win at home and on the road.”

Derrick Rose led Chicago with 21 points but scored just two in the fourth quarter. Deng, the only other Bulls player in double figures, added 13 but had just four after the opening period.

Joakim Noah had nine points but only eight rebounds. Taj Gibson provided a spark in the fourth quarter, scoring all of his eight points. Carlos Boozer, however, was a non-factor with seven points and eight rebounds and sat out the final 16:21.

The Bulls missed countless layups and got outshot 47.1 percent to 34.1 percent. They were just 3 of 20 on 3-pointers and 16 of 26 at the foul line while getting beat on the glass.

They had no answer for James down the stretch, either, and came up short when it looked like they might find a way to pull this one out.

“We played a low-energy offense, a low-energy defense and the result was not good,” coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Rose put it this way: “We can’t afford to go out and play like this. We let them get easy baskets, especially in transition.”

The Heat led by 11 late in the third, only to see the Bulls pull even in the fourth, with Gibson providing a big spark.

He cut it to 71-69 early in the fourth with back-to-back jumpers for his first points of the game, pumping both arms after the second shot went in.

Then, he tied it at 73 with 7:16 left after Haslem lost the ball out of bounds, drawing more roars from the crowd, but the teams traded misses for about three minutes before James put Miami ahead with a 3. Then, he scored again with 3:15 left to make it 78-73.

Gibson delivered a slam over three defenders and got fouled by Wade, the same guy he delivered a poster-worthy dunk on in Game 1, to make it a three-point game with 2:29 left, but missed the free throw.

James put back his own miss and nailed a 20-footer to make it 84-75 with 47 seconds left.

The Heat looked like they were ready to pull away in the third, going on a 10-0 run after Rose hit two free throws to cut it to 57-56 with 5:14 left.

Haslem blocked Deng and dunked on Keith Bogans for a three-point play to start the run.

James then stole a pass from Noah and broke the other way for a three-point play, then picked off another by Deng, leading to a layup for Wade. Haslem, who hadn’t been playing much, threw down another vicious fast-break dunk on Rose to finish the run, crashing to the court as the lead reached 11, but the Bulls answered with six straight to stay in it.

“I talked to him two days ago, and there was a look in his eye,” Spoelstra said, referring to Haslem. “I’ve been through a lot of battles with that warrior, and I knew it was time to put him in.”

Haslem continued to reiterate he was ready but understood he needed to be patient. When the opportunity came, he wasn’t looking to score.

“I was seeing guys running to the basket without anyone putting a body on them,” he said. “My focus wasn’t on scoring tonight, it was defense and rebounding.”