Technical Foul on Bryant Is Voided

A technical foul on Kobe Bryant on Friday against Seattle has been rescinded by the league, leaving him three, not two, away from an automatic one-game suspension.

Bryant was called for the technical after putting the ball in the chest of referee Greg Willard a little too hard for Willard’s liking. A league spokesman declined to comment, other than to confirm that the foul had been withdrawn.

Bryant, who now officially has 13 technical fouls, will be suspended without pay for a game if he picks up a 16th technical. Every two technical fouls beyond that (18, 20, 22) will also result in a one-game suspension without pay, as per guidelines of the progressive technical foul rule installed this season by the league.

“He’s got to show restraint,” Coach Phil Jackson said Tuesday. “His last one was ludicrous. He’s kind of like a marked guy now.”

Detroit Piston forward Rasheed Wallace was suspended for Tuesday’s game against New Orleans after picking up his 16th technical foul in the Pistons’ previous game.

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Jackson noticed the heated response of Charlotte Bobcat General Manager-Coach Bernie Bickerstaff -- “He certainly went into attack mode, didn’t he?” Jackson said -- but otherwise chose not to escalate their cross-country battle of words.

Asked whether he was stung by comments from Bickerstaff that questioned his credibility, the Laker coach smiled and said, “No.”

Bickerstaff was offended when Jackson labeled the Bobcats’ waiving of Kareem Rush as “vindictive” because there were so few games left in the season.

“He probably forgets he wrote a book for profit,” Bickerstaff said Monday. “So he has a lot of credibility.”

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Bryant has 2,542 points this season, the most in the league since Michael Jordan scored 2,541 in 1992-93.

Bryant is also ahead of the pace to pass the franchise record of 2,719 points set by Elgin Baylor in 1962-63. Bryant would need to average 25.5 points over the final seven games, more than nine below his average, to pass Baylor’s record.

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The Lakers haven’t quite secured a playoff spot, although it looked even more likely after ninth-place New Orleans and 10th-place Utah each lost Tuesday. The Lakers have seven games to play and are four games ahead of the Hornets, 4 1/2 ahead of the Jazz.... Individual game tickets for Laker playoff games go on sale Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or by phone at (800) 4-NBA-TIX. A limit of six tickets may be purchased per game per person. Tickets will not be sold at the Staples Center box office.