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Gasol is on board with this concept

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Pau Gasol couldn’t get any shots to fall, so he began filling up another category.

Gasol tied a career high with 18 rebounds Sunday against Miami, the second time in the last three games he had hit the same mark.

He isn’t necessarily known for ferocious rebounding, but he was strong on the boards yet again, getting eight at the offensive end on the way to a three-game total of 47 rebounds in Lamar Odom’s absence.

“I’m trying to go get it,” Gasol said. “The ball doesn’t fall in your hands 18 times if you don’t go get it, if you don’t work and box out defensively. It’s just a matter of hustle and being aggressive out there.”

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In the last three games, Gasol has increased his rebounding average from 8.8 to 9.4 per game. He had 18 against Golden State on Wednesday and 11 against Indiana on Friday.

“I’m just trying to step it up in that category because sometimes I get four or five rebounds, which I’m not very satisfied with,” he said. “Offensively I wasn’t producing the way I would like to [against Miami], so it was just trying to get myself going as far as defense and rebounding.”

Gasol made only four of 15 shots and had 14 points in the Lakers’ 108-105 victory.

Refereeing the referees

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson created a string of follow-up stories Sunday after saying Saturday that Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade sometimes takes an extra step on drives to the basket.

Does the league crack down hard enough?

“They start off [every season] with a great deal of emphasis on tape and on how we’re going to call things -- ‘We’re not going to call discontinued dribble, we’re not going to call the extra step this year, [and] when guys spin and they hop on that pivot foot . . . that’s an actual travel, we’re going to call that.’

“You get to this part of the season, and it’s gone,” Jackson said. “Totally dissipates. Nobody’s calling it.”

Wade, a four-time All-Star, had an added advantage, Jackson said.

“What he’s really been able to do is that pickup move that the Europeans really have brought in that we all would consider a walk move -- pick up the ball and take two steps. That’s two and a half steps,” Jackson said. “He’s been able to get a long distance on that because of his ability to change directions. He’s exceptional on that.”

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It didn’t seem like there was much that could be done, at least from Jackson’s perspective.

“In this league, our referees have decided they are going to referee the defense, not the offense, so the offensive players obviously get away with more than the defense does because they’re looking at the defensive players,” he said.

Wade had 27 points on 10-for-22 shooting Sunday.

Injury updates

Odom sat out a third consecutive game because of a bone bruise in his right knee, though he will travel with the team for its two-game trip this week to Houston and San Antonio.

Luke Walton is no longer wearing a walking boot but missed his fifth consecutive game because of a sore right foot.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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