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LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Kobe Bryant contributed to a third-quarter collapse but raised himself and his teammates to another level in a statement game. Bryant scored 15 of his career-high 43 points in the final 12 minutes as the Los Angeles Lakers outlasted the San Antonio Spurs for a wild 109-100 victory in a game between the last two NBA champions. "I felt very, very weak. I was just totally drained after the game was over," said Bryant, who left the Staples Center immediately following the contest due to an upper respiratory infection. Losers of four of their previous five meetings with the 1999 titleholders, including a 91-81 setback on November 8, the defending champion Lakers appeared primed to take the game by the throat, racing to a 62-42 halftime advantage. But the proud Spurs would not go away, scoring 16 of the first 18 points in the third quarter before taking a 76-73 lead on David Robinson's dunk with 2:40 left in the period. Bryant, who scored 27 points after intermission, took control thereafter and did not look sick at all. The 6-7 swingman buried a 17-footer and connected from 27 feet just before the third-quarter buzzer, giving Los Angeles an 82-78 lead. "At the end of the third quarter, I thought that shot was huge," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "I think that was the biggest shot of the game. It was a one-point game at that point and he knocked that down and we were just not aggressive on that last play and that made it a four-point game. I thought that gave them a lot of energy." After missing a 21-footer to open the fourth quarter, Bryant dunked, hit consecutive nine-footers and knocked down a 28-footer to open a 98-82 cushion with 7:34 remaining. Another slam, a 21-footer and two free throws from Bryant helped the Lakers hold on after another burst by the Spurs. Shaquille O'Neal scored 36 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who did not have to face San Antonio during last season's playoff run to the NBA title. "Kobe played an awesome game," Lakers guard Ron Harper said. "And when the game got tight, he made the big shots. So did Shaq. This is going to be a hell of a series. They have a very fine team." "We all wanted to win," O'Neal said. "It was a long night, a banging night." Tim Duncan had 19 of his 24 points in the second half for the Spurs, who slipped to 2-5 on the road. Duncan was absent during San Antonio's first-round playoff series with Phoenix last season due to an injured knee. The Spurs lost the series in four games. "We dug ourselves a hole," Duncan said. "Kobe played a great game. You really have to give it to him. He hit all the big shots that the Lakers needed." Sean Elliott scored 19 points and David Robinson added 16 and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who committed just nine turnovers but lost the battle along the boards, 46-37. San Antonio shot 47 percent (38-of-81). Horace Grant had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who shot 51 percent (41-of-80) and rebounded nicely from Thursday's 121-88 drubbing at Seattle. "The Lakers were coming out and doing what everybody in the whole nation thought they would do and that is try to get back on track, try to get last night's game out of their memory," Popovich said. "It looked like the whole world knew that excpet the five guys dressed in black jerseys." Los Angeles carried a 30-21 lead into the second quarter before pulling away for the first time. O'Neal made a layup, Bryant scored consecutive baskets, Harper drove the lane for an easy score and Bryant added two free throws to open a 56-37 bulge with 2:04 left in the first half. Embattled reserve Isaiah Rider made two free throws 2.5 seconds before intermission for the short-lived 20-point advantage. Rider, who has been fined by the team for arriving late for practices and games, played just two minutes. "I thought we needed to have some real concise execution out there and he's still a little bit of a novice out there," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We needed some guards out there, some ballhandlers that really understood what we had to do." Duncan hit two free throws to open the second half and Bryant answered with a 15-footer before the Spurs took a serious chunk out of the Lakers' lead. Duncan and Robinson made consecutive jumpers before Avery Johnson's basket and two free throws cut the deficit to 64-52. Elliott hit two from the line and Duncan made a layup and follow shot to get the Spurs within 64-58 with 8:11 remaining in the third quarter. Harper ended the run with a 10-footer, but Duncan made two straight baskets and Elliott and Johnson offset two jumpers by Bryant to make it 70-66 with 4:41 left in the period. "We came out in the third period and didn't move the ball," Harper said. "We were just standing there and we gave them every good chance to get in this game." Elliott made a free throw, Robinson a free throw and Johnson two more from the line as San Antonio forged ahead, 74-73, with 3:06 left in the third quarter. O'Neal, who was 6-of-14 from the line, clanged two free throws before Robinson's slam gave the Spurs a three-point lead and forced Bryant to lift his teammates out of their funk. "I wanted to see them dig their way out of it and find a way to sustain," Jackson said when asked why he didn't call timeout during the Spurs' run. "I knew the (TV) timeout would be coming and we'd get a chance to talk about it." "You see two teams that really want to win and compete," Spurs guard Derek Anderson said of the budding rivalry. "We both know what this means. We won at home and now they won at home. It's a fight for playoff stability. Tonight was a good exhibiton of how we should play against each other."
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