Allen became the NBA’s career leader in 3-pointers in the first quarter, but Bryant later put him on the bench in foul trouble during his big second half that rallied Los Angeles from an early 15-point deficit.
Pau Gasol added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who split the regular-season series with their biggest rivals and got a sorely needed victory against one of the league’s top teams. Andrew Bynum, the subject of trade rumors in the never-ending Carmelo Anthony saga, finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Allen hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter to pass former Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller (2,560), who was sitting courtside calling the game for TNT. But he made only one more and had 20 points after scoring 12 in the first quarter.
Nuggets 121 Mavericks 120: In Denver, Arron Afflalo hit a 19-footer at the buzzer and Denver ended Dallas’ 10-game winning streak.
Carmelo Anthony scored 42 points and Chauncey Billups had 30 for Denver, which overcame a nine-point deficit in the last 2:51 to win.
Afflalo scored seven points to help the Nuggets rally from 119-110 down. Nene hit 1 of 2 free throws with 33.3 seconds left to tie it, and Dirk Nowitzki hit one free throw with 19.6 seconds left to give Dallas a one-point lead.
Denver chose not to call a timeout, and Billups found Afflalo, who got a shot off before the horn to lift Denver. Afflalo finished with 24 points.
Jason Terry scored 25 points, Tyson Chandler had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Nowitzki finished with 16 for the Mavericks.
Suns 112 Warriors 88: In Phoenix, three days after his 37th birthday, Steve Nash had 18 points and 11 assists, then sat out the fourth quarter as Phoenix went on to the easy win.
Channing Frye added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Suns, who beat the Warriors for the second time in four nights to climb to .500 (25-25) for the first time since Dec. 19.
Ekpe Udoh and Brandan Wright scored 16 apiece for the Warriors. Monta Ellis , the fourth-leading scorer in the NBA at 25.4 points per game, managed just eight on 4-of-13 shooting.
The Suns made it a blowout with a 20-0 run, the last 14 points of the first half and first six of the second, to go up 71-42.
Sloan steps down as Jazz coach
Like the impressive mountains that dominate Salt Lake City’s skyline, Jerry Sloan was a fixture in the Utah landscape.
Now, for the first time since 1988 — three years before Michael Jordan won the first of his six NBA titles — the Jazz will have a new head coach on their bench.
“He’s been there like this rock and all of a sudden the rock is gone,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said of the 68-year-old Sloan. “It’s like your franchise moved or something. I don’t know. It’s just strange.”
While Sloan expected to wake up refreshed knowing he was done game-planning and tussling with fiery superstars such as Deron Williams , the rest of the basketball world was awakening to a new era.
“Man it’s gonna be crazy and weird seeing anyone besides Jerry Sloan walking the sidelines for the Utah Jazz!” Miami Heat star LeBron James tweeted. “Jerry Sloan is the Utah Jazz. Wow.”
James wasn’t exaggerating.
Since Sloan took over in Utah for Frank Layden, there have been 245 coaching changes leaguewide — 13 alone by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Five current NBA teams (Charlotte, Memphis, Toronto, Orlando and Minnesota) did not even exist when Sloan was hired by the Jazz.
“As a colleague, we’ll miss him,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who along with Sloan and Pat Riley were the only coaches in NBA history to have 15-plus consecutive seasons with a winning record.
Sloan stepped down Thursday with 1,127 wins as Jazz coach and 1,221 overall (including his short stint in Chicago). The career total is the third-most in NBA history.
His decision came after an emotional loss to the Bulls on Wednesday night, a night that saw his former team and former players help hand the Jazz a 91-86 loss. It was their 10th loss in the last 14 games and third straight at home following a 15-5 start.
At halftime, Sloan and Williams clashed, reportedly over how a play was run. It wasn’t the first time.
