SAN ANTONIO ? The Lakers are 3-0 against the Spurs this season, while the defending NBA champions have fallen below .500.

Kobe Bryant made only six of his 20 shots Wednesday night, but 10 of his 21 points came in the final period as Los Angeles erased a nine-point deficit to beat San Antonio, 90-86.

Last season, San Antonio swept all four regular-season matchups and eliminated Los Angeles in the playoffs.

“We buckled down and did what we’re supposed to do,” said Gary Payton, who scored 16. “We’re trying to make statements to everybody that we’re for real this year. It’s going to be hard to beat us.”

The Lakers trailed 71-62 after three quarters but made eight of their 16 shots in the fourth as their defense pressured San Antonio into seven turnovers and poor shot selection.

“In the fourth quarter, that’s when you have to lock teams down,” Bryant said. “That’s what we did.”

Karl Malone, who finished with 16, made all four of his shots in the period, while Shaquille O’Neal had five of his nine blocks in the quarter.

The Spurs managed to make only three of their 17 attempts in the final 12 minutes and stumbled to their fourth straight loss.

“Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy,” said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. “Our pace is too frenetic — it creates turnovers and puts pressure on the defense.”

Los Angeles' Karl Malone (11) scores against San Antonio's Rasho Nesterovic. Malone had 16 points in the Lakers' 90-86 victory over the Spurs Wednesday night in San Antonio.

The Spurs are now 9-10. They have not been below .500 this late in the season since 1996-97 — before the team drafted Tim Duncan.

Duncan, returning from a one-game suspension for pushing a referee in Saturday’s loss at Golden State, finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds.

“I got two or three open looks down the stretch — I just wasn’t able to knock them in,” said Duncan, who missed all five of his shots in the fourth quarter.

Devean George added 18 for Los Angeles, which extended its winning streak to seven, Gary Payton had 16 and O’Neal 15. O’Neal narrowly missed a triple-double, grabbing 16 rebounds.

A three-pointer by Tony Parker, the Spurs’ first basket of the fourth, gave San Antonio its final lead — 80-78 with 5:05 left. A free throw by George and a layup by Payton put the Lakers ahead for good with 4:16 remaining.

The Spurs hit nine of their first 15 attempts from the floor to build an 18-11 lead late in the first quarter, but a pair of layups by Payton and three-pointers from Bryant and George gave the Lakers their final lead of the half, 21-20.

A 20-8 run by San Antonio early in the second quarter stretched the advantage to 46-31. The Lakers outscored the Spurs 10-1 over the final four minutes of the half as San Antonio missed its final seven shots.

O’Neal scored his first points of the game on a dunk over Duncan with 3:23 remaining in the first half, and Payton made two more layups and a 4-foot jumper to pull Los Angeles to 47-41 at the break.

Blazers 97, Pacers 95

Portland, Ore. — Zach Randolph scored a career-high 34 points after apologizing to his teammates for his recent arrest, leading Portland to an overtime victory over ndiana. Reggie Miller made a three-pointer with 28.5 seconds left to put the Pacers up 95-94 before Damon Stoudamire answered with 14-foot jumper. After a timeout, Indiana’s Ron Artest slipped while driving under the basket and lost control of the ball. Anthony Johnson then fouled Stoudamire, who made the first of a pair of free throws with 0.8 seconds left for the final margin.

Nuggets 117, Warriors 109

Oakland, Calif. — Voshon Lenard had 26 of his career-high 38 points in a brilliant first quarter, and Carmelo Anthony added 26 points to lead Denver to its fifth straight win. Anthony converted an acrobatic three-point play with 1:20 left, and Lenard hit a three-pointer on the Nuggets’ next possession as they snapped Golden State’s four-game winning streak and moved into a tie for first place atop the Midwest Division. Speedy Claxton scored a season-high 21 points for the Warriors.

Rockets 107, Jazz 101, OT

Houston — Cuttino Mobley had a season-high 32 points and Houston took control in the first 3 1/2 minutes of overtime to defeat Utah. Eric Piatkowski had five points and Steve Francis made three of four free throws as the Rockets opened the extra period with a 10-2 run to end a three-game losing streak. Yao Ming had 20 points and Francis finished with 19.

Matt Harpring and Andrei Kirilenko led the Jazz with 19 points apiece. Aleksandar Pavlovic, subbing for the ill DeShawn Stevenson, had a career-high 18 points — 14 in the first quarter — as the Jazz had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Greg Ostertag hit two free throws with 28 seconds left in regulation to put Utah ahead 93-92 before Yao scored on a layup with 17 seconds left. Kirilenko then hit one of two free throws with five seconds to play to send it into overtime.

Hornets 106, Magic 91

New Orleans — Orlando’s losing streak reached 17 games, though the Magic did manage to keep it close until the final three minutes. Baron Davis had 27 points and 12 assists as the New Orleans sent the Magic to a franchise record-tying 17th straight loss. Tracy McGrady scored 29 for the Magic, who trailed 92-89 before the Hornets finished with a 14-2 run.

Jamaal Magloire added 20 points and 14 rebounds, and David Wesley had 13 points as all five Hornets starters scored in double figures. Ex-Magic Darrell Armstrong came off the bench to score 14.

Tyronn Lue scored 20 for Orlando, hitting four of six 3-pointers, and Andrew DeClercq added 14. Drew Gooden had 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.

Sonics 95, Knicks 87

Seattle — Vladimir Radmanovic finally found his shooting stroke, scoring 21 points with five three-pointers to lead Seattle past New York. After going 12-of-46 from the field over the previous three games, Radmanovic shot 8-of-14. Rashard Lewis had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Brent Barry scored 13, and Luke Ridnour scored 10 of his career-high 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Sonics won their second straight game.

Raptors 105, Celtics 95

Toronto — Donyell Marshall and Vince Carter each scored 21 points and Toronto set a franchise record with 17 three-pointers in a victory over Boston. Alvin Williams added 18 points and Chris Bosh had 16 for the Raptors, who reached a season-high in points.

The Raptors went 17-for-24 from behind the arc, breaking their record of 15 three-pointers Nov. 10, 2001 at Utah.

Toronto, averaging a league-low 79 points per game, improved to 2-0 since acquiring Marshall, Jalen Rose and Lonny Baxter from Chicago for Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams and Chris Jefferies .

Rose, Toronto’s new starting point guard, had nine points and five assists.

Paul Pierce had 23 points for the Celtics, who have lost three straight and seven of nine.

Marshall made five of six three-point attempts and grabbed eight rebounds. Carter had 10 assists, one night after getting a career-high 12.

The Celtics cut Toronto’s lead to six points with seven minutes left, but Marshall followed with a three-pointer. Morris Peterson and Marshall hit consecutive three-pointers, giving Toronto a 100-83 lead with 3:45 left.

Boston coach Jim O’Brien said Raef LaFrentz and Tony Battie wouldn’t be able to practice this season because of sore knees.

Pistons 87, Heat 73

Auburn Hills, Mich. — Mehmet Okur had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Ben Wallace added 10 points and a season-high 21 rebounds in Detroit’s victory over Miami. Okur started in place of Elden Campbell, who was excused to attend a family funeral. Detroit won its fourth straight and sent the Heat to their fifth straight road loss.

Richard Hamilton had 18 points for Detroit, which had all five starters in double figures. Miami’s Lamar Odom led all scorers with 22, but made just 11 of a career-high 31 field-goal attempts.

Wallace had 20 rebounds in a game for the first time this season after doing it 16 times last year. Wallace (six) and Okur (five) also combined to block 11 shots.

Grizzlies 96, Nets 93

East Rutherford, N.J. — James Posey and Pau Gasol scored 19 points apiece and Memphis took advantage of mistakes by Jason Kidd down the stretch to beat New Jersey. Lorenzen Wright added 14 points as Grizzlies won their third straight on the road and handed the Nets their fourth straight loss overall and their sixth in eight home games. With a record of 9-8, this is the latest in a season the Grizzlies have been over .500.

Kidd was a big contributor to this latest setback, missing a free throw and turning the ball over twice in the final 1:56. The All-Star point guard also didn’t get the benefit of his status when the officials declined to call a foul as he made contact with Stromile Swift on an off-balance layup attempt with less than two seconds to play. The Nets trailed 95-93 at the time.

T’wolves 92, Suns 79

Phoenix — Sam Cassell scored 16 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and Minnesota outscored Phoenix 31-19 in the period to beat the struggling Suns. Cassell, with his fourth consecutive 20-point game, also had eight assists and seven rebounds. He shot 5-for-5 in the fourth quarter, three of them 3-pointers. Latrell Sprewell scored 21 for Minnesota. Kevin Garnett went 3-for-11 through three quarters but was 4-for-7 in the fourth to finish with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Suns lost their third straight, all at home, and have dropped four of five overall as the pressure builds on coach Frank Johnson after the team made the playoffs last season. Stephon Marbury scored 32 points on 14-for-25 shooting. Amare Stoudemire scored 14, only four in the second half. Penny Hardaway made his first start of the season and scored eight points.