Bynum leads Lakers past Nuggets

LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, Andrew Bynum posted the Lakers’ first playoff triple- double in 21 years with an NBA postseason record- tying 10 blocked shots, and Los Angeles thoroughly controlled the tempo in a playoffopening 103- 88 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.

Bynum, the Lakers’ All- Star center coming off his best regular season, also had 10 points and 13 rebounds while incredibly blocking 11 percent of the Nuggets’ 90 shots.

While Bynum had the Lakers’ first playoff triple- double since Magic Johnson in the 1991 NBA finals, fellow 7- footer Pau Gasol added 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the playoff- tested Lakers, who never trailed while forcing the NBA’S highest- scoring team to play Los Angeles’ preferred half- court style. Game 2 is Tuesday night. Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points for the sixth- seeded Nuggets, but the NBA’S second- youngest playoff roster struggled to run. Andre Miller had 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while helping out Ty Lawson, Denver’s leading scorer, who managed just seven points while failing to make a shot in the first three quarters.

Bynum blocked eight shots in the first three quarters before surpassing Kareem AbdulJabbar’s franchise- record nine blocks in the fourth. He swatted Timofey Mozgov’s shot for No. 10 in the closing minutes to equal the NBA record set by

Utah’s Mark Eaton on April 26, 1985, and matched by Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon on April 29, 1990.

Ramon Sessions had 14 points and five assists in his first career playoff game for the third- seeded Lakers. Largely thanks to Bynum’s defensive dominance, Los Angeles avoided the embarrassment of last season’s playoff- opening loss to New Orleans, never getting into trouble while opening the Lakers’ third playoff meeting with Denver in five years.

Devin Ebanks scored all of his 12 points in the first half while starting his first career playoff game in place of suspended Metta World Peace. The Lakers didn’t miss their defensive stopper while forcing most of Denver’s key contribu- tors into poor games.

Bryant scored 23 points in the second half to open the 15th playoff campaign of his 16- year career. The third- leading scorer in NBA playoff history, trailing only Michael Jordan and AbdulJabbar, hadn’t played in a week, sitting out the Lakers’ last game alongside Gasol and Bynum to keep his high- mileage legs fresh for the playoffs.