The Los Angeles Lakers continued to build on their recent momentum with a 111-106 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday, as the home team staved off a late rally to register a third consecutive victory.

Kobe Bryant dished out 11 assists and Dwight Howard scored 24 points as Los Angeles, comfortably in control at 98-80 midway through the fourth quarter, almost blew the win when the Hornets put together a 16-2 run in the closing stages.

Bryant finished with 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. He has 39 assists in the last three games, the most assists in any three-game stretch of his 17-year career. He also reached double digits in helpers in three straight games for the first time since January 2009.

Give the Hornets credit, they refused to go away. They trailed by 18 points in the second quarter before cutting the deficit to four with 2:45 remaining in the third, then fell behind by 18 again in the fourth before storming back within a point on an eight-foot runner by Greivis Vasquez with 2:04 remaining.

Earl Clark scored the last of his 20 points with some fancy footwork inside for the Lakers, and Vasquez then air-balled a two-footer on the other end. Steve Nash and Eric Gordon traded three-pointers before Antawn Jamison scored on a drive to extend LA's lead back to 109-104 with 15 seconds remaining.

Clark, who rode the end of the bench the first two months of the season, sank a career-high four three-pointers on five attempts and grabbed 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double this month. Howard shot 9-for-13 from the floor and scored a team-high 24 points, though he grabbed just four rebounds, matching his season low when playing the entire game.

The bench also played a huge role in the win, as Jamison (16 points), Jodie Meeks (13) and Pau Gasol (seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists) allowed Bryant to play less than 35 minutes for just the second time this month.

"Our second group played really well tonight. That's something that's going to be really important going forward," said Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni.

After a well-publicized team meeting to address the group's struggles last week, Los Angeles (20-25) appear to have found a new lease of life.

Gordon top-scored for the Hornets (15-30) with 25 points while Vasquez added 15 points and 15 assists as the visitors lost for the third time in their last four games.

Agencies - Global Times