Half: Lakers 54, Celtics 50

There was some emotion and a little blood in the first half today at Staples Center. The Lakers showed some aggression, which had been missing in their loss Friday to the Sacramento Kings. Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics supplied the blood. He got cracked in the head accidentally and had to retreat to the locker room for repairs midway through the second quarter. The game featured a scoring battle between Kobe Bryant, who scored 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting, and Boston's Paul Pierce, who had 16 on 5-for-10 shooting. Everyone else had a struggle. Bryant is six points away from 27,000 for his career.