Los Angeles - In a marquee showdown between the best in the West, the Los Angeles Lakers beat up their long-time rivals.

Kobe Bryant scored 22 points before sitting out the final quarter, Andrew Bynum had 15 with 11 rebounds and the Lakers spanked the visiting San Antonio Spurs 99-85 on Sunday.

"We played a stellar game and our bench was the difference breaking the game and holding the lead," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "Obviously, Andrew, did some defensive things (rebounding) that we liked."

Reserve Trevor Ariza matched a season-high with 17 points, Spanish native Pau Gasol chipped in with 16 for the Lakers (35-8) who own the league's top record after their fourth straight win.

Jordan Farmar, who missed the last 18 games following knee surgery, contributed 14 points off the bench.

"We missed him a lot. He makes our second unit go," Bryant. "Now that he's back, everybody falls into their natural positions and we are back clicking on all cylinders."

Frenchman Tony Parker netted 19 points, Tim Duncan finished with 15 and eight rebounds for Southwest Division-leading San Antonio (29-14) which had won 20 of its last
25 games before the lopsided loss.

"We've had a long rivalry with these guys," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We've beaten them up at times, they've beaten us up at times."

On Sunday at sold out Staples Centre, the Spurs got the beating.

"I thought that the Lakers played really well today," Popovich added. "It's a hell of a team and it's going to be a hell of a team for a long time. They're young, athletic, long, and deep, inside game, outside game."

The Spurs snatched the first meeting 11 days ago, 112-111 on Roger Mason's last second three-point play. The Lakers, however, would not allow that to happen, dominating the second half.

"At halftime we were down by six, then they had a great start in the third quarter with two three's and they went up twelve," said Argentine Manu Ginobili, who finished with nine points and eight boards off the bench. "Then everything went uphill for them."

After building a 51-45 halftime advantage, the Lakers opened the third quarter on a game-breaking 10-2 run. Bryant and Derek Fisher buried back-to-back three-pointers, Bynum followed with four free throws and the gap quickly grew to 61-47 en route to a 79-66 cushion.

The Lakers began the final quarter with four starters on the bench, but Popovich had thrown in the towel by then, pulling Duncan along with Parker. When Gasol hit a jumper and two free throws to sandwich another 10-2 start, the lead swelled to 89-68 with 7:36 remaining and coasted to the victory.

"It's a long season," Popovich said. "We weren't going to win at that point."

Elsewhere Boston Celtics 124, Dallas Mavericks 100 Eddie House scored 23 points with seven three-pointers off the bench, and the defending champion Celtics rolled to their eighth consecutive victory.

Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen also had 23 points apiece for Boston (37-9) which led 74-47 at halftime en route to the blowout.

Jason Terry topped Dallas (25-19) with 27 points and German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki added 18.

Phoenix Suns 104, Atlanta Hawks 99 Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points, and Shaquille O'Neal had 19 with 11 rebounds, helping the visiting Suns snap a three-game slide.

Josh Smith tallied 19 points, Joe Johnson added 15 with 13 assists for Atlanta (26-17) which had won its previous three outings.

Toronto Raptors 113, Sacramento Kings 97 Chris Bosh scored 31 points, Italy's Andrea Bargnani had 24 and the Raptors pulled away to drop the lowly Kings (10-35) to
0-18 against Eastern Conference opponents.

Houston Rockets 108, Detroit Pistons 105 Ron Artest scored 24 points, including three key free throws in the final 14 seconds, and the Yao-Ming-less Rockets held off the Pistons for their seventh win in the last nine games.

Argentine Luis Scola had 21 points in place of Yao, out of the lineup after suffering a sore right knee in Friday night's loss to Indiana.

Richard Hamilton led Detroit (24-19) with 27 points, and Rasheed Wallace had 22, but missed a three-pointer in the final seconds that would have sent the game into overtime.

Indiana Pacers 98, Charlotte Bobcats 93 Danny Granger scored 27 points, and the Pacers (17-27) edged the Bobcats for their season-high fifth consecutive home victory.

Raja Bell and Frenchman Boris Diaw had 18 points apiece for Charlotte (18-26) which had won five of its last six games.

Minnesota Timberwolves 109, Chicago Bulls 108 (OT) Al Jefferson scored a season-high 39 points, Randy Foye hit the go-ahead basket with 42 seconds left in overtime and the Timberwolves improved to 9-2 in January.

Ben Gordon had 23 points, and Luol Deng added 22 for Chicago (18-27) losers of five in a row.

Denver Nuggets 117, Utah Jazz 97 Brazilian centre Nene matched his career high with 28 points, Chauncey Billups and JR Smith added 22 apiece as the Nuggets sent the visiting Jazz to its third straight loss.

Golden State Warriors 107, LA Clippers 92 Corey Maggette scored 20 points against his former team, Anthony Morrow added 17 and the Warriors handed the visiting Clippers their 15th loss in the last 17 games. (dpa)