LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kobe Bryant scored 28 points, Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 110-82 in a testy affair in which five players were ejected Thursday night.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers' Matt Barnes and Steve Blake, and the Mavericks' Jason Terry and Brendan Haywood were thrown out following an altercation under the basket. Los Angeles' Shannon Brown was later ejected in a separate incident.
The late skirmish didn't take away from the Lakers' 16th win in 17 games since the All-Star break, helping them pull within 2 1/2 games of slumping San Antonio for the NBA's top overall record.
Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, whose five-game winning streak ended.
Celtics 107, Spurs 97
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Rajon Rondo had 22 points and 14 assists, and Paul Pierce scored 21 to help Boston avoid stopped slipping further from first in the Eastern Conference.
Kevin Garnett added 20 points and the Celtics, winning for just the second time in five games, moved within two games of Chicago for the No. 1 playoff seed in the East.
The Spurs lost their fifth straight and are in danger of falling out of first place after comfortably being No. 1 in the West all season.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points and Tim Duncan, playing for the first time in five games after spraining his ankle last week, had 20 points and 13 rebounds.
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