California Sports AP News

(AP) Kobe Bryant scored 41 points while becoming the youngest player to reach 24,000, leading the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers to a 114-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.

Ron Artest had 19 points and seven assists in the fourth straight win for the defending NBA champions, who played without injured big men Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.

Lamar Odom managed just three points before fouling out on his 30th birthday, but Bryant carried the Lakers while reaching his latest scoring milestone 38 days before Wilt Chamberlain did. With a second-half surge, he even overtook Grizzlies guard Allen Iverson for 16th place on the NBA's career scoring list.

Iverson had eight points in 22 minutes coming off the bench in his third game with Memphis.

CLIPPERS-WARRIORS Kaman leads Clippers in 118-90 win

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Chris Kaman had 22 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes and the Los Angeles Clippers ended a seven-game losing streak in the Oakland Arena with a 118-90 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night.

Baron Davis scored 16 of his 25 points in the third quarter as the Clippers won their second straight after opening the season with four losses. Eric Gordon added 25 points for Los Angeles and DeAndre Jordan scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter.

Anthony Morrow scored 18 points and Stephen Jackson added 17 for the Warriors, who were coming off their first win of the season. Monta Ellis added 14 points.

The Clippers led 57-45 at halftime.

KINGS-MARTIN Kings G Kevin Martin to miss at least 8 weeks

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sacramento Kings leading scorer Kevin Martin will be sidelined for about two months after deciding to undergo surgery on his injured wrist.

The team said Friday that Martin will have the operation on his left wrist on Monday and is expected to miss at least eight weeks. Martin has a non displaced hairline fracture of the navicular bone in his wrist.

Martin is averaging 30.6 points a game for the Kings, who have lost four of five games to open the season. Sacramento was an NBA-worst 17-65 last season.

Beno Udrih is expected to replace Martin in the starting lineup Saturday in Utah.

DODGERS-RAMIREZ Ramirez to return to Dodgers next season

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Manny Ramirez is coming back to the Dodgers next season.

The team said Friday that the slugger exercised his $20 million contract option for 2010. His agent Scott Boras informed Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti of the decision.

Ramirez hit .290 with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs in 104 regular season games. He missed 50 games while suspended for violating baseball's drug policy.

In the NL division series against St. Louis, Ramirez batted .308 with no homers and two RBI. Against Philadelphia in the NL championship series, he hit .263 with one homer and two RBI.

Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers from Boston in July 2008.

ANGELS-REAGINS EXTENSION Angels GM Reagins gets contract extension

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels general manager Tony Reagins has agreed to a long-term contract extension.

The Angels have won the AL West in both of his years as GM. Reagins received the extension Friday.

The 42-year-old Reagins succeeded Bill Stoneman in October 2007 after six seasons as the Angels' director of player development. Reagins has spent 18 years in the organization since joining the club as an intern.

The Angels went to the AL championship series this season. In his tenure, Reagins has signed outfielders Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu and traded for pitcher Scott Kazmir.

BRAVES-PROCTOR Braves sign RHP Proctor to minor league deal

ATLANTA (AP) — Right-handed pitcher Scott Proctor has signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves after missing all of last season recovering from elbow surgery.

The 32-year-old Proctor has pitched five years in the majors with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. He began experiencing elbow pain in 2008, causing him to miss 63 games, and underwent Tommy John ligament replacement surgery this past May 12.

Proctor's best season was 2006, when he led the American League with 83 appearances and big league relievers with 102 1-3 innings. He went 6-4 with one save and a 3.52 ERA for the Yankees that year.

Proctor will attend the Braves' spring camp as a non-roster invitee.

T25-USC-ARIZONA ST Wounded Trojans looking to bounce back at ASU

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona State Sun Devils hoped Southern California might have a letdown after a big victory over Oregon.

So much for that plan.

Drubbed by 27 points in Eugene last weekend, the 12th-ranked Trojans figure to be in a bad mood when they show up for Saturday night's game at Sun Devil Stadium. The loss dropped USC from fourth in The Associated Press Top 25 to a tie for fourth place in the Pac-10 and seemingly eliminated the Trojans (6-2, 3-2 Pac-10) as a national title contender.

T25-OREGON-STANFORD Stanford looks for key 6th win vs. No. 7 Oregon

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Stanford has been pointing to the brutal four-game November stretch as the defining moment for the season ever since arriving at fall camp.

The Cardinal end the season with arguably their four toughest games, facing No. 7 Oregon, No. 12 Southern California, No. 23 California and No. 19 Notre Dame all in succession.

What no one knew at the start of the season was that the toughest game might come first, when the Cardinal host the Ducks on Saturday.

Running back Toby Gerhart says the game represents a huge opportunity for the Cardinal if the team wants to take the next step.

Stanford will be without top linebacker Clinton Snyder for the rest of the season. Snyder is sidelined with a knee injury sustained in practice on Tuesday. He leads the team with 61 tackles and has started 42 of 44 games in his career.

WASHINGTON-UCLA Bruins, Huskies hang bowl hopes on Saturday game

LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA's seven-game Pac-10 losing streak has matched the longest conference skid in school history. A loss to Washington on Saturday would make the wrong kind of history, and probably squash the Bruins' bowl hopes as well.

Linebacker Reggie Carter is happy to hear it. Given the accumulated weight from the mounting frustrations of UCLA's five straight losses since September, he thinks the Bruins could benefit from a make-or-break moment.

Quarterback Kevin Prince agrees with Carter's diagnosis. Although the Bruins lost at Oregon State last week, Prince's offense finished with its best stretch of play in two months.

The Huskies also face high stakes. The good feelings from coach Steve Sarkisian's debut season would grow if the Huskies can sweep the Los Angeles schools and stay in the hunt for a bowl bid into the final weeks while ending UCLA's domination of Washington for most of the past decade.

OREGON ST-CALIFORNIA Cal QB looking to erase bad memory against Beavers

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — The California Golden Bears return home to host Oregon State in a pivotal Pac-10 matchup for both teams on Saturday.

Cal has won three straight after consecutive blowout losses to Oregon and USC, and is coming off a 23-21 victory at Arizona State in which Riley engineered a late fourth-quarter drive that led to the game-winning score.

Oregon State has won eight of the last 10 games between the two teams, including four straight at Memorial Stadium. But Beavers coach Mike Riley is leery of a Cal team that comes in with the 18th-highest scoring offense in the country.

The Beavers must also contend with running back Jahvid Best, who has 838 yards and 11 TDs on the ground this season.

T25-TCU-SAN DIEGO ST No LT, but Frogs will still be motivated vs SDSU

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs will have to do without their good-luck charm when they play in San Diego for the fifth straight season.

The Horned Frogs are 4-0 in Qualcomm Stadium with alum and San Diego Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson cheering them on from the sideline. That includes two games against San Diego State and two appearances in the Poinsettia Bowl.

Tomlinson will miss Saturday's game against the Aztecs because his San Diego Chargers play at the New York Giants on Sunday.

The Horned Frogs should do OK on their own, considering that they're 24-point favorites.

GIANTS-LINCECUM-POT Report says Lincecum has agreement on pot charge

SEATTLE (AP) — San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum reportedly has an agreement with a prosecutor in his home state of Washington that could settle his misdemeanor marijuana charge.

The Columbian in Vancouver, Wash., says Clark County prosecutors have reached a deal with a lawyer for the 2008 Cy Young Award winner that would result in a $250 fine for possessing a marijuana pipe.

Grant Hansen, a Clark County deputy prosecutor, told the newspaper Friday his office is willing to dismiss a misdemeanor charge of possessing 3.3 grams of marijuana. It all stems from an Oct. 30 traffic stop in which a Washington State Patrol trooper said Lincecum was doing 74 mph in a 60 mph zone on Interstate 5 in his 2006 Mercedes. Lincecum reportedly also faces a $122 fine on the speeding citation.

The agreement, which Hansen told The Columbian is standard for first-time marijuana offenders who are cooperative, still must be approved by a judge. Hansen did not immediately return phone and e-mail messages left late Friday by The Associated Press.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)