Bryant Is Back in Lead Role

By Kobe Bryant’s second game, they’d not only learned to play with him, they’d begun to depend on him again.

While some of the Lakers shook the back-to-back dreariness from their legs and heads on Sunday night, most opted to be pleased the Golden State Warriors were similarly afflicted and leave it at that.

Bryant played 35 minutes and scored 21 points in an 87-72 victory that will go faceless in a season that distinguished itself long before the first bucket. That’s 72 minutes in barely more than 24 hours for Bryant, who against the Warriors had some touch (seven for 12 from the field, two for three from the arc) and some savvy (five steals) and some life.

While so much around him was languid -- the Warriors shot 37.2% from the floor, the Lakers 42.5%, and the teams combined for 34 turnovers before a typically reserved school-night crowd -- Bryant had the spring he lacked the night before in Phoenix, on a suddenly rapidly healing knee.

“It felt strong at the beginning of the game,” Bryant said. “I knew what I could do. [Saturday] night was a test.”

So, in three games, the Lakers have won spectacularly (against the Dallas Mavericks), grittily (in Phoenix) and carelessly (against the Warriors). They’ve trailed for all of 2 minutes and 27 seconds in them, over 144 minutes of floor time, by getting up and down the court with Gary Payton, by flicking entry passes to Shaquille O’Neal, by keeping up with Karl Malone.

In fact, in a game that pushed their early-season conditioning and attentiveness, the starters who were lightest on their feet were the guy coming off knee surgery and the guy who turned 40 over the summer. Malone grinned and put his hands on his head.

He called it “one of those hump nights,” when the victory was in the grind of the game, in winning every quarter by a few points, as the Lakers did Sunday.

“Guys respect that,” he said. “We’ve talked in here, when we’re supposed to beat a team, go do it. Find a way to do it. It’s getting a win. That’s the most important thing for me.”

They all rode Bryant a bit, but they all chipped in again. Five Lakers -- the starters -- scored in double figures and Derek Fisher had nine points. O’Neal had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Malone had 16 points. Devean George had 12 points. Payton, who made three of 13 field-goal attempts, had 10 points but 11 assists.

In three games, they’ve had 17 players score in double figures and they have yet to be outrebounded, despite Erick Dampier’s career-high 23 for the Warriors.

“It’s funner this way,” said O’Neal, who admitted to having over-napped Sunday afternoon. “Everybody’s getting involved. Karl Malone and Gary said it best, ‘On any given night you can pick your poison.’ ”

Against the Warriors, who left most of their team in Oakland or on the bench, he said, “We played down to the level of our competition,” which was way down. Among the Warrior infirmed and/or punished: Troy Murphy, Jason Richardson, Nick Van Exel, Adonal Foyle, Popeye Jones, Mickael Pietrus and Evan Eschmeyer. That left Mike Dunleavy, whose Clipper coach father watched from the seats, and he missed 14 of 18 shots a night after he scored 32 points against Philadelphia.

Still, the Warriors stayed close, dragging the Lakers into something that looked like a game after being behind by 17 early in the third quarter. But the third quarter was Bryant’s (seven points) and the fourth was O’Neal’s (seven) and Malone’s (six), Malone getting his last two on a fast break with Payton, charging down the floor, taking a no-look pass and barreling through Brian Cardinal for a layup, the ball falling through with 11.8 seconds left to put the Lakers ahead by 15 points.

Afterward, the Lakers generally marveled at Bryant’s ability to transition from slow to go, even as he regularly iced his right knee while on the bench.

“That’s what’s neat about it,” Malone said. “You’re starting to see that quick burst. He’ll tell you, if things go well, this week’s going to be big for him. He’s starting to attack guys and he’s starting to make guys play him.”

While he lamented a game “played in the mud,” Phil Jackson said, “I think Kobe is finding a pretty good stride. He’s still queuing up as far as the speed of the game, the right passes to make and some other things. [But] his energy seems to be a lot better than it was a week ago.”