Bryant scores 30 in third, finishes with 62

Kobe Bryant was at his incredible best Tuesday night, scoring a career-high 62 points in just three quarters to lead the Los Angeles Lakers over the Dallas Mavericks 112-90.

The 27-year-old Bryant, who brought a 31.3-point average into the game, shot 18 of 31, including 4 of 10 from 3-point range, and made 22 of 25 foul shots while playing only 33 minutes.

Bryant scored 15 points in the first quarter, 17 in the second, and a franchise-record 30 in the third before taking a seat for good with the Lakers leading 95-61.

The previous Lakers record for points in a quarter was 24 shared by Bryant and Hall of Famers Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.

The NBA record for points in a quarter is 33 by George Gervin for San Antonio in 1978. Denver’s David Thompson scored 32 in a quarter that same season, and Wilt Chamberlain scored 31 in a quarter for Philadelphia in 1962, when he set the single-game NBA record with 100 points.

Baylor scored a franchise-record 71 points on Nov. 15, 1960, at New York. Bryant’s total is the sixth-highest in club history and the most for the Lakers since Chamberlain scored 66 at Phoenix on Feb. 9, 1969.

Bucks 109, Spurs 107 (OT): At Milwaukee, rookie Andrew Bogut made a fadeaway jumper as time expired to give the Bucks an overtime victory over San Antonio.

Cavaliers 110, Jazz 85: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 25 points and took an early seat on the bench after Cleveland used a flurry of 3-pointers in the third quarter to rout Utah. Gordan Giricek scored 16 to pace the Jazz.

Heat 111, Hawks 92: At Miami, Shaquille O’Neal made his first eight shots and finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds in only 24 minutes, and Miami beat Atlanta in Pat Riley’s first home game since replacing Stan Van Gundy as coach.

Pistons 93, Trail Blazers 89: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Richard Hamilton scored 23 points and Tayshaun Prince added 21 to lead Detroit over Portland for its fifth straight win.

Nets 99, Clippers 85: At East Rutherford, N.J., Vince Carter scored 35 points and added nine assists and seven rebounds, leading New Jersey over Los Angeles for its season-high third straight victory. Elton Brand had 21 points and 13 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season to lead the Clippers.

Bobcats 105, Bulls 92: At Chicago, Brevin Knight shook off a bruised right forearm and finished with 20 points and 10 assists, and Charlotte Bobcats beat Chicago.

Around the league

Utah forward Andrei Kirilenko sat out Tuesday night’s loss to Cleveland because of back spasms. Kirilenko, who missed seven games last month with a sprained right ankle, had to leave Saturday’s game in Milwaukee after just 17 minutes with the same back problem. … Miami center Alonzo Mourning missed Tuesday night’s victory over Atlanta with an upper respiratory infection. … Charlotte forward Emeka Okafor had an MRI exam on his sprained right ankle and did not accompany the team to Chicago.