Lakers overcome off night by Kobe, defeat the Bulls

Sasha Vujacic scored 19 points, Lamar Odom added 17 points and 16 rebounds, and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls, 103-91, last night.

Slowed by a groin injury, Kobe Bryant scored 18 points for the Lakers, but was a non-factor for long stretches against the team he targeted as a possible destination during the offseason.

Odom started an 11-point run with a layup and capped it with a dunk as the Lakers turned an 86-83 lead into a 14-point advantage with 3:24 left in the game. In between, they took advantage of several turnovers, and got an alley-oop dunk by Andrew Bynum and a layup and three-pointer by Jordan Farmar.

Bryant seemed fine when he converted an alley-oop dunk in the game's opening minute, but he missed his next seven shots and was 7-for-19 overall. His skid ended with a jumper and a layup with a little more than 2 minutes remaining in the first half.

Bryant then scored the Lakers' first six points of the third quarter, starting with a thunderous reverse dunk in transition about 40 seconds into the period, but he needed help and got it.

Vujacic scored nine in the fourth quarter, and Luke Walton and Bynum finished with 12 points apiece. Bynum also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Luol Deng led Chicago with 26 points, and Kirk Hinrich finished with 17 points and eight assists.

In other games:

* At East Rutherford, N.J., John Salmons scored a career-high 31 points and passed to teammate Francisco Garcia for a decisive three-pointer to lead visiting Sacramento, 106-101, over the Nets, who have lost six of their last seven.

* At Los Angeles, Chris Bosh had 24 points and nine rebounds as Toronto beat the Clippers, 80-77.

* In an effort to get more involved with his slumping team, Charlotte Bobcats part-owner Michael Jordan jumped into a drill during the team's practice. He then gave tips to some young players and showed he still has that famous shooting touch.

"This was more or less for the morale of the players," said the former Chicago Bulls superstar, whose team has lost 10 of its last 12 games.

* Nuggets forward Nene, who was out with a torn thumb ligament, has been cleared by team doctors to begin ballhandling and shooting drills, and can participate in full practices beginning Friday. *