Shaq, Kobe Enjoy a Good Old Night

When he was done, Kobe Bryant walked the length of the bench and touched the hand of every teammate.

Not long after, Shaquille O’Neal did the same.

More than seven minutes remained in a game decided more than a quarter before by their energy and precision. But before they were gone, Bryant and O’Neal reminded anyone who had forgotten what it looks like when they are together.

The Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns, 106-80, Tuesday night at Staples Center. O’Neal scored 32 points and took 13 rebounds. Bryant, in his first meaningful and lengthy playing time in three weeks because of tendinitis in his left ankle, scored 20 and tied a career high with six steals.

Though he experienced some pain in his ankles, he said, “on a couple of moves,” he expected them to hold up for as long as the Lakers play.

“It was fun to be back,” Bryant said. “It felt like I was a little kid who was sick and I couldn’t go out to play.”

Said O’Neal: “Kobe had a good game. Everybody was involved, and everybody was aggressive on defense. That’s what it’s going to take. But we have to do the same thing the last three games going into the playoffs.”

O’Neal said Bryant’s energy moved the team.

“He did a great job on Jason Kidd, and everybody fed off his energy,” O’Neal said. “The ball moved well, and we had our way.”

The Lakers won their fifth consecutive game, for the moment avenging a 104-83 loss last month in Phoenix.

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks, all but assuring home-court advantage for as long as they last in the Western Conference, and the Clippers failed to help the Lakers, losing to Sacramento in overtime as the Kings remained in first by a game in the Pacific Division.

Leading, 52-38, at halftime, the Lakers scored the first 12 points of the third quarter. Rick Fox had seven of them, three after watching Bryant penetrate to the basket and kick the ball out.

For pieces of this game against the Suns, they were the Lakers of last season’s championship. This was the defensive grit worthy of the banner they added more than five months ago, of the rings they keep in safety deposit boxes.

O’Neal played right through Jake Tsakalidis and Chris Dudley. He maneuvered easily in the space created by Bryant, flipping his jump hooks or rolling to the basket.

He made 13 of 20 field-goal attempts.

The crowd chanted “MVP! MVP!” warming to O’Neal’s scoring surge.

The roar for Bryant began when Lawrence Tanter, the public address announcer, got only a few words in, “from Lower Merion High . . . “ Bryant leaped to his feet, leaving only O’Neal on the bench behind him, and the crowd shouted deliriously.

When the lights came up, he went right to the side of Kidd, the Sun guard who two weeks ago in Phoenix had 22 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists against a Kobe-less Laker defense.

“I feel pretty good,” Bryant said. “I was able to slide my feet defensively, and that was my major concern--would I be able to slide defensively. Tonight I was able to do that, so I was pretty happy.”

Sun Coach Scott Skiles wasn’t.

“He was totally disruptive defensively,” Skiles said of Bryant. “He was out there being physical early in the game, putting his hands on us. He made it very difficult because he was so active.”

Bryant missed his first shot, gathered the rebound on the left baseline, and made a nine-foot jumper. He clenched his fist as it fell, celebrating his first points since March 21. He made five of six shots in the first quarter, and six of eight in the first half, when he scored 14 points. Overall, he made seven of 14 shots in 35 minutes.

He didn’t look perfect. But he looked close. Late in the first quarter, he gathered a 30-foot lob from Brian Shaw, slamming the alley-oop pass for a 19-18 lead. The Suns would not lead again.

On the bench, O’Neal banged Bryant on the head, and they slapped hands.

Two possessions later, Shaw hit O’Neal for a similar alley-oop, O’Neal running ahead of the pack on a fastbreak. Again, dunk, smiles, pointing.

The Suns, in the seventh spot in the West, shot 36.1% from the floor, and lost for the third time in five games, all on a trip that concluded against the Lakers.