In brief: Bryant, Lakers claim thriller over Celtics

NBA: Kobe Bryant scored 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and hit a go-ahead jumper with 41.7 seconds left, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 97-94 win over the visiting Boston Celtics on Sunday.

Andrew Bynum had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who rallied from a five-point deficit in the final 2 1/2 minutes. The All-Star center hit a short hook shot over Kevin Garnett with 15.5 seconds left, and Boston couldn’t get a good look at a tying 3-pointer.

Rajon Rondo had 24 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, who opened an eight-game road trip by blowing a late lead. On Boston’s final possession, Ray Allen failed to get free for a 3-pointer before Rondo badly missed a tying attempt.

• 76ers hand Knicks fifth consecutive loss: Lou Williams scored 12 of his 28 points in a dazzling third-quarter flurry, Evan Turner had 24 points and 15 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers handed the New York Knicks their fifth straight loss with a 106-94 victory in New York.

• Magic CEO undecided on Howard: Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins indicated that the team has not decided whether it will trade Dwight Howard before the NBA trade deadline on Thursday afternoon.

Howard has not divulged publicly what he wants to do, and it’s unclear what he has told the Magic.

• Houston’s Lowry still hospitalized: Houston guard Kyle Lowry remains in a New York-area hospital with an undisclosed illness.

A team spokesman said before a game against Cleveland there is no timetable for when Lowry will rejoin the team. He was admitted to the hospital with abdominal distress and fever late last week.

Zirkle holds Iditarod lead; Seavey lurking

Winter sports: Aliy Zirkle is maintaining her lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The 41-year-old musher and her team of 12 dogs were greeted by fans as they pulled into Unalakleet at 7:28 a.m. Alaska time Sunday.

For being first to Alaska’s western coast, she wins a gold cup and $2,500 in gold nuggets.

Dallas Seavey was close behind, reaching the checkpoint at 8:19 a.m.

There are six more checkpoints in the nearly 1,000-mile sled dog race across Alaska before mushers reach the finish line in Nome. Sixty-six teams started the race March 4; four mushers have scratched.

• Sweden’s Myhrer wins World Cup slalom: Andre Myhrer of Sweden won the season’s second-to-last men’s World Cup slalom in Kranjskar Gora, Slovenia, while Marcel Hirscher of Austria straddled a gate in the opening run and failed to score points for the overall championship.

Myhrer finished in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 40.99 seconds to win his first title of the season and third overall.

Defending overall champion Ivica Kostelic of Croatia finished 16th to extend his lead in the slalom standings over Hirscher to 50 points.

Beat Feuz of Switzerland, who skipped the race, remains in the overall lead.

• Canada’s Nesbit clinches Grand World Cup: Christine Nesbitt of Canada won the 1,000 meters at the speedskating finals in Berlin to take her second overall title in two days and clinch the women’s Grand World Cup.

Olympic champion and world-record holder Shani Davis of the United States won the men’s race in 1 minute, 09.24 seconds to clinch the overall title.

Nesbitt, who won the 1,500 World Cup title Saturday, clinched the last 1,000 race of the season in 1 minute, 15.04 seconds, with Heather Richardson of the United States second, 0.73 seconds behind.

Former Olympic champion Claudia Pechstein of Germany won the women’s 20,000-meter mass start.

Mariska Huisman of the Netherlands finished second, enough to take the overall title after three events.

In the men’s event, Alexis Contin of France clinched the overall title after finishing second in the last race of the season behind Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands.

Rangers win overtime clash with Islanders

NHL: Marian Gaborik scored the Rangers’ third power-play goal in the dying seconds of overtime to help his team hold on for a 4-3 victory over the visiting Islanders.

Brad Richards scored twice on the power play to reach 20 goals in a season for the ninth time, and helped set up Gaborik’s winner for the Rangers.

Brian Boyle also scored for the Rangers, who erased three one-goal deficits.

• Neal leads Penguins to ninth straight win: James Neal had a goal and two assists, and the Penguins beat Boston 5-2 in Pittsburgh for their ninth straight victory.

Chris Kunitz, Arron Asham, Pascal Dupis and Matt Niskanen also scored for Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin had three assists to move into the NHL points lead with 84, two ahead of Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos.

• Devils top Flyers for Brodeur’s milestone win: Martin Brodeur made 18 saves for his 650th career victory and Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists to help the New Jersey Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in Newark, N.J.

Wiggins captures slim Paris-Nice win

Miscellany: Bradley Wiggins beat Lieuwe Westra by 2 seconds in the decisive mountain time trial to win the Paris-Nice race through France.

Wiggins was leading the Dutchman by 6 seconds coming in and maintained his advantage in the 6-mile uphill dash from Nice to Col d’Eze to become the first Briton to win the race since Tom Simpson in 1967. Wiggins beat Westra by 8 seconds overall.

• Messi nets two to reach 50 goals: Lionel Messi scored twice to reach 50 goals for the second straight season and lead Barcelona to a 2-0 win over Racing Santander in the Spanish league.

With 230 goals since his debut in 2004, the 24-year-old is five shy of matching Cesar Rodriguez’s Barcelona club record, set from 1942-55.

• Tulsa fires men’s basketball coach: Tulsa has fired men’s basketball coach Doug Wojcik after seven seasons during which he amassed a record of 140-92 – the most wins in school history – but failed to take the program to the NCAA tournament.

• Cubs agree to deal with Cuban left-hander: The Chicago Cubs and Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion have agreed to a five-year major league contract.

The 20-year-old Concepcion will report to the team’s minor league camp in Mesa, Ariz.

• Moss to work out with 49ers: A person with knowledge of the situation says 35-year-old veteran wide receiver Randy Moss will continue his attempt to return to the NFL following a year out of pro football by working out today for the San Francisco 49ers.

• Gatornationals postponed: Intermittent showers forced the NHRA sanctioning body to halt elimination rounds at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., several times Sunday. Racing will resume at 10 a.m. today, with forecasts calling for a 20 percent chance of rain.