Los Angeles  - All of a sudden, the Los Angeles Lakers are slumping.

The Lakers wasted a season-high 41 points from Kobe Bryant and dropped consecutive games for the first time this season with Saturday's 106-103 loss to the host Orlando Magic.

Jameer Nelson scored 27 points and Rashard Lewis added 22 for the Magic, who won their fourth straight game as they survived Dwight Howard's foul trouble and a last-second shot by Bryant, who missed at the buzzer for the second straight night.

Los Angeles  - The Boston Celtics are NBA champions again. The United States is Olympic champions again.

It took a while, but 2008 saw the basketball world finally returned to its axis.

Los Angeles - Brandon Roy had a night to remember.

Roy poured in a career-high 52 points, including the tie-breaking three-pointer with 61 seconds remaining, as he carried the Portland Trail Blazers to a rousing 124-119 comeback victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.

"That was the best game of my career," said Roy, who made 14-of-27 shots, including five three-pointers and 19-of-21 free throws. "A lot of my teammates stepped up tonight, it was a team win."

Roy came into the contest averaging 22.3 points this season, but his sparkling effort was the second highest total of the season, behind the 55 scored by San Antonio's Tony Parker.

Vilnius - The governing body of Lithuanian basketball announced Thursday that it was suspending this weekend's programme of matches in protest at government tax proposals.

In a press release, the Lithuanian Basketball League (LBL) said no national championship games would take place until December 29 in the face of "catastrophic and draconian taxes" planned by the recently-elected government of Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.

Los Angeles - "The Big Ticket" had a big hand as the Boston Celtics turned Sweet 16.

Kevin Garnett scored 10 of his 18 points in the final quarter, and the white-hot Celtics clipped the pesky Atlanta Hawks 88-85 on Wednesday night, extending their winning streak to 16 games.

"We just hung in there, and KG had a tremendous effort down the stretch for us," said Celtics Paul Pierce, who also finished with 18 points. "We were tested and won on the road against a quality team."

Los Angeles  - When the Utah Jazz visited the red-hot Boston Celtics, they were concerned with Boston's "Big Three." Instead, they were victimized by "The Other One."

Rajon Rondo had a career-high 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists Monday night as the Celtics won their 15th-straight game, a 100-91 victory over the Jazz.