LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant scored 11 of his 29 points in the third quarter before sitting out the fourth, Andrew Bynum had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Nuggets 104-90 on Friday night.
The defending Western Conference champion Lakers (10-1) are off to their best start through 11 games since the 2001-02 championship season, when they won 16 of their first 17 games. All of their victories have been decided by seven or more points — which was their winning margin against four teams.
Nene led the way for Denver with 18 points. Chauncey Billups made his first three shots, but was 3-for-9 the rest of the way and finished with 15 points and nine assists before going to the bench with 10:39 remaining.
Billups, a three-time all-star, is averaging 18.3 points and 6.2 assists in nine games since the Nuggets reacquired him from Detroit in a trade that sent Allen Iverson to the Pistons.
Carmelo Anthony, the runner-up to Bryant for the league scoring title in 2006-07, had 10 points on 5-for-19 shooting and is averaging just 16.3 points over his last six games. The six-year veteran has scored 30 or more points 57 times since the start of the 2006-07 season, the third-highest total during that stretch behind LeBron James (77) and Bryant (75).
The Lakers never trailed in the opener of a five-game homestand, making 14-of-21 shots in the first quarter and bolting to a 35-20 lead.
Anthony had a miserable first half, shooting 4-for-13 and committing three turnovers in a 2:47 span. The Lakers used a 20-6 run to increase a 13-point lead to 59-32 with 4:26 left in the second quarter.
