MILWAUKEE, December 17- Kobe Bryant sank a 15-foot jump shot for the last of his 39 points as the final buzzer sounded, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a 107-106 NBA over-time victory over Milwaukee on Wednesday.
Bryant scored the last seven points of the game over the final 78 seconds to bring the defending NBA champions their 13th triumph in their past 14 games to match Boston at 20-4 with the league’s best record this season.
Bryant sank the winning basket from almost the exact place left of the free throw line where he missed a basket that would have won the game at the conclusion of regulation time.
"I had a really good look. It was such a good look and I missed it," Bryant said. "I knew if I had another shot, which I did get, I wanted to go to the same spot and redeem myself."
Bryant, still hampered by a broken right index finger, managed only 12 points in the first half but at the finish was 13-of-28 from the field and 12-for-12 from the free throw line.
"This is the most challenging (injury). It’s tough," Bryant said of his injury. "It affects my follow through."
Spaniard Pau Gasol scored 26 points and grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds for the Lakers.
The Bucks, led by 25 points from reserve Michael Redd and 24 from Turkey’s Ersan Ilyasova, lost their fourth in a row to the Lakers and 14th in the past 17 tries against the Lakers.
The Bucks seized a 106-100 lead in over-time on a 3-pointer by Redd and a Luke Ridnour basket, but Bryant answered with a jumper, Ilyasova missed two free throws and Bryant hit a 3-point play to pull the Lakers within a point.
Australian Andrew Bogut, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, was whistled for a foul on the play to give Bryant a free throw that he sank to make it 106-105 with 48 seconds remaining, setting up Bryant’s closing heroics.
"We made a couple of good offensive and defensive plays to stay in it," Bryant said.
