THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO -- Kobe Bryant poured in 27 points, including a long fadeaway jumper with four seconds to play, to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 94-92 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
The Lakers' victory spoiled an excellent afternoon for Jose Calderon, who scored a career-high 30 points for Toronto (9-20).
Linas Kleiza added 15 points, while Leandro Barbosa finished with 12 in what was very nearly the Raptors' second consecutive big upset, coming two days after Toronto beat the Boston Celtics.
Pau Gasol added 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers (16-12), while Andrew Bynum added 14 points.
The Lakers galloped out to a 18-point first-quarter lead in what looked like the beginnings of a long afternoon for the Raptors and fans at the Air Canada Centre.
But Toronto chipped away at L.A.'s lead to make a game of it, and trailed just 73-67 heading into the fourth quarter before Calderon's first of back-to-back three-pointers with 3:13 left pulled the Raptors even at 84-84.
Calderon drained a second three, Ed Davis slammed home a huge dunk, and Kleiza scored on a hook shot to put Toronto up 88-84 with 2:11 to go, bringing the crowd of 19,311 -- just shy of a sellout -- to its feet.
The fans didn't sit down over the final thrilling two minutes that saw Bryant drain a three, then feed Metta World Peace -- formerly Ron Artest -- for a basket to put the Lakers up by one with 31 seconds to play. Calderon then connected on a long jump shot with 17 seconds left before Bryant, who famously dropped 81 points on the Raptors back in 2006, stepped back to sink what would be the winning basket in the dying seconds.
The final few seconds drew angry boos from the crowd as Toronto's Rasual Butler tried to call a timeout on Toronto's possession. Officials ruled Butler didn't call it before the allowable five seconds to inbound the ball, giving possession to the Lakers, a call that left Raptors coach Dwane Casey irate.
Calderon's previous career high of 27 points came almost four years ago to the day -- Feb. 11, 2008 versus San Antonio.
The Raptors, playing once again without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani, were coming off a big 86-74 win over the Celtics on Friday.
Bryant and the Lakers, meanwhile, had been humbled 92-85 on Friday by phenom Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks.
The game was the third in a tough seven-game homestand for Toronto. The Knicks are in town Tuesday, followed by the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
The Lakers led 34-19 after the first quarter as the Toronto offence shot just 30 per cent from the field.
The Raptors shot 67 per cent in the second and James Johnson went coast-to-coast for a driving dunk with less than a second left in the half to cut the Lakers' lead to 54-46 at the break.
Calderon padded his point total with seven in the third as the Raptors cut the Lakers' lead to three points three times before the Lakers went up 73-67 with a quarter left to play.
NOTES: Bargnani has begun pool workouts to rehabilitate his injured calf muscle. "His new nickname is Flipper," Casey joked before the game. Bargnani will increase his workload over the next week, but Casey said the team was taking a cautious approach to his return. Bargnani sat for the 15th time in 17 games Sunday. ... Toronto Maple Leafs Dion Phaneuf and James Reimer had courtside seats.