It’s a rousing season debut for Lakers’ Steve Blake and Shannon Brown

They were the first two players Lakers Coach Phil Jackson praised.

And Steve Blake and Shannon Brown were deserving of being mentioned before any other Laker.

After all, it was Blake and Brown who helped the Lakers slice up a 15-point deficit and then they pushed the Lakers toward a 112-110 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night in the season opener at Staples Center.

“We just didn’t seem to find traction until Shannon and Steve got in the ballgame and changed the complexion of that ballgame,” Jackson said. “A great effort by those two. They gave us a big rally.”

Brown had 16 points on six-for-nine shooting, including four of five from three-point range. He also had four steals.

Blake had 10 points on three-for-five shooting, making three of his four three-point shots. He also had three assists.

Both played the entire fourth quarter, a sign of how much Jackson trusted his two role players and how effective they were off the bench on the night the Lakers got their championship rings for the 2009-2010 season.

“I think every night, when you’re coming off the bench, it’s your job to come and bring some energy,” Blake said. “And it starts on the defensive end. You’ve got to pressure guys, try to get steals. And then offensively, you’ve got to knock down shots. So it’s going to be big for us every night.”

For Brown, this was an indication of how much he has improved his jump shot.

He has said he wanted to be known for more than dunking the basketball.

So he worked on his shooting, and it showed.

“That’s what you do, you get better in the summertime,” Brown said.

Brown was going so good that he didn’t hesitate late in the game.

He had just made a three-pointer when Blake got a steal.

Brown raced up court, took a pass from Blake and made another three-pointer for a 99-91 lead that forced the Rockets to call a timeout.

As Brown walked to the Lakers’ huddle, Kobe Bryant ran over and hugged Brown.

“Nobody picked me up,” Brown said. “So it wasn’t any sense trying to force anything. I was just taking what they was giving me.”

Blake came up big for the Lakers in the third quarter when they were down by 15.

His back-to-back three pointers to end the third quarter cut the Lakers’ deficit to 82-77.

But his biggest shot came late in the game, with the Lakers trailing by one point.

Bryant had approached Blake earlier in the game when they run the “mid pick-and-roll.”

Bryant told Blake he would first try to “dump the ball” inside to Pau Gasol. But if the defense took that away, Bryant would look outside for Blake.

And Bryant did, finding Blake for a three-pointer with 18.8 seconds left that gave the Lakers a 112-110 lead.

“He made a great pass,” Blake said. “That was big of him to trust someone new on the court.”

Blake wasn’t done.

He dug down on defense and forced Aaron Brooks into missing a last-second shot beneath the basket that could have tied the score.

“I made him change his shot and I think Lamar [Odom] got his hand on it,” Blake said. “I just tried not to foul him and make him take a tough shot.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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