Los Angeles ? Kobe Bryant went down hard and did not return, though the Los Angeles Lakers were able to defeat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers without him.

Bryant sustained what the team called a severely sprained right ankle and had to be helped off the court early in a 98-94 victory Thursday night. X-rays were negative, but Bryant will have an MRI today.

Lamar Odom had 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Caron Butler added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the third time in four games.

James led Cleveland with 28 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and nine assists to just miss his first career triple-double. Jeff McInnis added 20 points, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavs, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Bryant, the NBA’s second-leading scorer with a 28.2-point average, was injured when he landed on Ira Newble’s right foot while going for a rebound under the Cavaliers’ basket with 5:39 left in the first quarter. Newble was called for a foul.

Bryant immediately grabbed his ankle before teammate Brian Grant and trainer Gary Vitti helped him off the court and into the Staples Center tunnel, where Grant and injured Los Angeles forward Devean George carried him into the locker room.

Bryant had two points and three assists before leaving with the game tied at 15.

Bryant injured his right shoulder late in the first quarter of a game against the Cavaliers in January 2004 when he collided with former Cleveland guard Kedrick Brown, causing Bryant to miss six games.

Eric Snow’s three-pointer — his only points of the game — gave the Cavaliers an 87-86 lead with 2:41 to play. But a basket by Odom and two free throws by Chucky Atkins put the Lakers on top, 90-87, with 1:38 left.

Cleveland's LeBron James, left, puts up a shot as the Lakers' Lamar Odom guards during the first half of the Lakers' 98-94 victory. The Lakers won Thursday in Los Angeles.

Ilgauskas made a free throw to draw the Cavaliers within two points, but Atkins and Butler made two foul shots each to put the Lakers ahead 94-88 with 22.4 seconds remaining.

McInnis and James made three-pointers to move the Cavaliers within one point with 9.8 seconds to go. Butler made a foul shot before James missed a three-pointer that could have given Cleveland the lead. Odom’s two free throws with 1.8 seconds to play completed the scoring.

Rockets 94, Nets 85, OT

Houston — Bob Sura scored a career-high 35 points, including a game-clinching three-pointer with 1:02 left in overtime, to lead surging Houston. Juwan Howard scored eight of his 12 points in the extra period, and a hobbled Tracy McGrady added 18 points for the Rockets, who matched a season-best three-game winning streak and moved two games above .500 (19-17) for the first time this season. Jason Kidd narrowly missed a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Kings 107, Jazz 93

Sacramento, Calif. — Peja Stojakovic scored 27 points, Chris Webber had 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Brad Miller had 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting for the Kings, who had just nine players in uniform for the second straight game. Mike Bibby sat out with a sprained ankle, and the Kings lost Greg Ostertag and Maurice Evans to injuries during a physical game featuring plenty of hard contact and confrontations.