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Pau Gasol’s impressive effort overshadowed in Lakers’ Game 1 victory

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The sweet-looking bounce pass came with about three and a half minutes left in the third quarter and resulted in Kobe Bryant’s 30th point of the game.

Bryant would go on to a 40-point performance in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Suns, a 128-107 victory by the Lakers.

And the architect of the aforementioned third-quarter play?

None other than Pau Gasol.

Gasol may have had one of the quieter 21-point showings that you’ll find in the playoffs. There was plenty of competition from his teammates as it was pushed to the background by Bryant.

Then there was Lamar Odom, who had 19 points and a career-playoff-high 19 rebounds coming off the bench, and was called the X factor in the game by the Suns.

“I had a pretty rough first two series offensively,” Odom said. “I knew my opportunity would come, especially with them always sagging on ‘Drew [ Andrew Bynum], always sagging on Pau and Kobe, as well.”

Still, Gasol’s contribution was hardly forgotten. He was an impressive 10 for 13 from the field and added five assists. This was yet another example of his continued playoff consistency.

In 11 playoff games this spring, Gasol failed to reach double figures only once.

Furthermore, he has scored 20 or more points in six of the 11 playoff games, the high point total, 33, coming in the series clincher in the second round against Utah on May 10.

“It was a good first win of a conference final,” he said Monday night. “It’s important we play with the aggressiveness and the confidence that we did tonight and we carry on where we left off against Utah.”

The Lakers, Gasol noted, skillfully avoided falling into the trap of the Suns’ speed game.

“We still want to make sure we control the tempo of the game,” he said. “I think we did that for the most part. We can’t fall in the trap of playing at their rhythm and their pace. Tonight we shot the ball really well.”

Gasol was asked if he had been concerned about Bryant and his ailing knee. Not at all. After he went to the source himself.

“I asked him during the week how he was feeling,” Gasol said. :He said it was feeling better and great. To me, that’s all I needed [to hear].... It was a great day for him.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

twitter.com/reallisa

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