Bryant Doesn’t Sit Around This Time

The most unlikely trend in Lakerland has the best clutch shooter in the NBA going a week without a fourth-quarter field goal and the team looking better and better despite it.

Yes, Kobe Bryant actually played in the fourth quarter Friday. On Tuesday, he turned down Phil Jackson’s invitation, when Bryant was sitting on 62 points and Elgin Baylor’s team-record 71 beckoned. Friday night in Orlando, with the Lakers holding a 16-point lead over the Magic and seven minutes to play, Bryant insisted.

“I wanted to put the game on ice,” Bryant said. “I looked at him. We had a spurt where it was kind of dry and I said, ‘Phil, put me back in so we can finish this game.’ ”

Except this time his finishing move looked different. He didn’t throw a three-point dagger into the heart of the opponent (he missed both three-point tries and a jumper). He softened the Magic with some free throws, then knocked them off by throwing a pass to Brian Cook, who whipped the ball to Smush Parker for a three-pointer in the final minute and, just like that, the conclusion went from forgone to inevitable, and the Lakers had a 104-88 victory.

More important, they had an answer.

The most significant question after Bryant’s career-high outburst Tuesday was not whether he should have re-entered the game in the fourth quarter. (The answer, once and for all, is no.) The more relevant question for the Lakers was how could they find the most effective way to win games.

If they utilize the passing and teamwork they displayed Friday night, they’ll win more, even if they generate less buzz in the process. Bryant had nine of the team’s 24 assists, and Lamar Odom had six.

If the rest of the team wanted to do nothing but play defense and let Kobe get all the points, the Dallas game would have been a perfect template. When he outscored the Mavericks through three quarters, everyone focused on Bryant’s 62 points and not the Mavericks’ 61, which was a nice defensive accomplishment and why his services weren’t needed in the fourth.

“Kobe had 62 points, but he didn’t single-handedly do anything,” Parker said. “We played team defense. It was a team effort. Kobe’s going to go out and get his points. We’ve just got to continue being positive role players.”

Jackson took advantage of a two-day gap in games to push the Lakers hard in practice Wednesday, when he thought they regained a sense of offensive balance. And the defense didn’t need an adjustment.

The Lakers have held four consecutive opponents below 40% shooting. They have given up 100 points only five times, and two of those were in overtime.

The problem is eventually the other guys have to score, and no one else got to 10 points Tuesday. Friday night represented the other extreme -- the better extreme in the long run -- with all five starters reaching double figures. Because some teams might actually try denying or double-teaming Bryant and then it will be up to TOGs (The Other Guys).

The Lakers didn’t need any fourth-quarter heroics from Bryant because the TOGs got it done in the second.

The Lakers trailed by two points because Steve Francis was driving around them and zipping passes by them on his way to 15 points and six assists in the first half.

But the Lakers capitalized on his absence to start a 17-1 run that gave them a cushy halftime lead. The best signs for the Lakers -- four different players scored during the run, and seven of the eight field goals were assisted.

It was all teamwork, driving and hit the cutter, attacking the inside.

And the paint belonged to the Lakers after Dwight Howard sprained an ankle in the first quarter, reducing the Magic big-man rotation to Tony Battie, Bo Outlaw and Mario Kasun.

Chris Mihm feasted, making his first eight shots and scoring 20 points.

“I was going for 63,” he cracked.

He did have the Laker scoring lead for a while, which led to a young fan’s incredulous third-quarter observation: “Dad, this guy’s got more points than Kobe Bryant.”

(That was soon followed by, “Dad, Kobe Bryant’s wearing black panty hose.”)

We’ll see what happens with Mihm on Sunday, when the competition goes from Kasun to Kazaam.

It must be Christmastime because Bryant is getting irritated by Shaquille O’Neal questions and Jackson is bemoaning television’s need to hype the matchup.

It’s actually a great opportunity for them. No, the organization can’t gain vindication for trading O’Neal. Even Jackson seemed to imply that would be impossible with his pregame comment that “The problem with trading dominant players of that size is you never get in return what you bargain away.”

What the Lakers can get Sunday is a victory over one of the current division leaders, which would be the first of the season. They could solidify their surprising status as one of the best road teams in the NBA.

It’s too much to expect some heartwarming holiday reconciliation between Bryant and O’Neal. Neither seems particularly interested.

What’s more relevant for the Lakers is the gift exchange between Bryant and Jackson. In their last season together, Jackson criticized Bryant for not embracing the team concept. Bryant chirped that Jackson needed to devote more time to defense.

Now here’s Bryant, as satisfied with a nine-assist night as he was with 62 points. And here are Jackson’s Lakers, among the NBA’s upper tier in defense.

If you believe in flying reindeer and dancing nutcrackers, might as well buy into this.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande go to latimes.com/adande.