Kobe Bryant Leads Lakers Past Raptors

TORONTO (AP) - Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers warmed up for their showdown in Boston with a victory over Toronto.

Kobe Bryant scored 36 points, Pau Gasol added 31 points and 15 rebounds and the Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 115-107 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight victory and eighth in nine games.

"We got it going a little bit more," said Bryant, who scored 10 points in the fourth to help the Lakers outscore Toronto 30-20 in the final frame. "We obviously picked up our energy a little bit. It felt like the first three quarters, we didn't have the pop we needed to. In the fourth quarter it seemed to be there for us.

Lamar Odom had 13 points, and Derek Fisher added 12 for the Lakers, set to play the Celtics on Thursday night in their first trip to Boston since losing the NBA finals.

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