Down by seven points with just over four minutes left in the game, the Sixers drew to within 88-86 on rookie center Nik Vucevic's layup with 3:17 left in the game, and after a Lakers' timeout the Sixers' Lou Williams hit back-to-back-to-back buckets, the second of which was a 3-pointer, to give the Sixers a 93-88 lead that forced the Lakers to call timeout with 1:18 left in the game.
Bryant responded with a floating jumper that cut the Sixers' lead to 93-90, but at the other end the Lakers' Matt Barnes fouled Williams and sent him to the line, where, with the chant "beat LA!' pulsating through the building, Williams made both shots for a 95-90 Sixers lead that would stand.
Jrue Holiday finished with 13 points and Andre Iguodala added 12 for the Sixers, who won despite being out-rebounded 55-30. Andrew Bynum finished with 20 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers.
The Lakers were playing the third game of a six-game road trip and were coming off of a loss at Denver. That game featured the ejection of their coach, Mike Brown, and resulted in a one-game suspension that kept him away from Wells Fargo Arena on Monday.
Bryant, leading the league in scoring (29.4), came into Monday's game needing 24 points to pass former Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal for fifth place on the NBA all-time scoring list, and he did that with room to spare.
After blistering the Sixers for 14 points in a first quarter that ended with the Lakers on top, 24-21, the Lakers' Matt Barnes found Bryant on the wing with 5:07 left in the second quarter. As he had been doing for most of the night up to that point, Bryant pulled up and swished home a 3-pointer that gave him his 24th point of the game and put him ahead of O'Neal.
It was a good thing for the Lakers that Bryant was so dialed in early because the rest of the Lakers, to that points at least, seemed content mostly to stand around watching him on offense.
