SoCal NBA Preview

Seattle (16-52) at LA Lakers (47-21), 7:30 pm, FSN

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers look to bring out the brooms Friday when the lowly Seattle SuperSonics pay a visit. The Western Conference-leading Lakers are seeking their first season-series sweep since taking all four meetings during the 1989-90 campaign.

When the clubs last met here, Bryant poured in 35 points to lead three others in double figures as the Lakers came away with a 106-99 victory on November 27. The reigning two-time scoring champ, Bryant is averaging 24.6 points in 42 career games against Seattle, which is just 1-9 this month.

Most recently, Bryant had 27 points and Lamar Odom added 21 and 12 boards as the Lakers snapped the Utah Jazz's 19-game home winning streak with Thursday's 106-95 triumph. The win helped the Lakers gain a one-half game lead over the New Orleans Hornets (46-21) for first place in the West standings with 14 games remaining in the regular season.

Rookies Jeff Green and Kevin Durant combined for 35 points Wednesday, but the SuperSonics dropped a 110-98 decision to the Phoenix Suns.