NEW ORLEANS - Kobe Bryant is making 50-point games look routine. Bryant finished with exactly 50, becoming only the second NBA player to hit that mark in four straight games and leading Los Angeles to a 111-105 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night. Bryant followed scoring totals of 65, 50 and 60 in his previous three games, all Lakers victories.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant drives past New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul in the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans on Friday, March 23, 2007. The Lakers won 111-105, as Bryant scored 50 points. [AP]

Only Wilt Chamberlain has exceeded that mark, scoring at least 50 points in seven consecutive games during the 1961-62 season.

Bryant calmly made all 16 free throws he attempted while the opposing crowd tried to rattle him with arm-waving taunts.

Tyson Chandler had 22 points and 22 rebounds for New Orleans, which trailed nearly the entire second half. Chris Paul had 28 points and 12 assists for the Hornets, playing the last of six games scheduled in New Orleans this season before a full-time return to the rebuilding city over the summer.

The Hornets had won two straight and three of four before falling to Los Angeles in a game that left New Orleans on the outside of a close race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Lamar Odom had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, while Kwame Brown had 10 points.

Hitting everything from a long 3-pointers to off-balance fades off the glass, Bryant scored 10 points in the first three minutes of the second half during a 14-4 run that gave the Lakers the lead for good at 70-61.

His one-handed floater as he skipped across the lane gave him 39 points and Los Angeles a 78-65 lead with 5:28 still remaining in the third quarter. A half-minute later, Bryant made a 3-pointer from the corner that prompted a rumble from the hostile crowd.

Bryant gave Los Angeles its largest lead of the game when his 16-foot jumper late in the third quarter made it 87-69.

Bryant scored 27 points in the first half, shooting 9-of-17 and hitting all nine of his free throws.

But the Hornets countered with a formidable combination in Paul and Chandler. Chandler's tip-in gave him 14 points and 11 rebounds midway through the second quarter. Paul, meanwhile scored 10 of his 18 first-half points on free throws.

Paul hit four straight late in the first half, setting up the second pair with a steal at halfcourt, to cut Los Angeles' lead to 54-53. Mason followed with a fast-break layup and Marc Jackson with two free throws, giving the Hornets a 57-56 lead at halftime.