Bryant Puts Lakers on Shoulders

The TV cameras had been gone for days, along with the Shaquille O’Neal punch lines, Shaq-Kobe subplots and the undivided holiday attention of the NBA nation.

Left behind were the Lakers, pulled back closer and closer to the .500 mark after losing three of four games at Staples Center, once considered a place impervious to such things.

Kobe Bryant was on the losing end of two awkward collisions Tuesday in the first quarter, the second of which led to a quick trip to the locker room, but the Lakers steadied themselves at home and moved at least one step away from the Miami loss with a 117-99 victory over the Toronto Raptors in front of 18,997 at Staples Center.

Bryant had a season-high 48 points on 14-for-26 shooting and made 16 of 18 free throws after being diagnosed with a strained left shoulder. He will receive treatment over the next four days on his non-shooting shoulder, which is not the shoulder that sent Bryant to the injured list last season. The Lakers’ next game is Sunday against Denver at Staples Center.

“Just one strong muscular shoulder,” said Bryant, smiling. “Certain things I couldn’t do with it. I could still raise my arm up, I could still move from side-to-side. Some of the movements I couldn’t do, like tie my shoe, weren’t really important. I just made sure my shoestrings stayed tied.”

Bryant left the game midway through the first quarter. He fell over Eric Williams after missing a spinning layup, and a few possessions later collided with Toronto center Rafael Araujo on a drive to the basket. Bryant went to the locker room, clutching his left shoulder, and came back a few minutes later.

He missed only seven seconds of game time because there had been a timeout, and returned without any apparent lingering effects.

“I had to do some meditation-type things not to start [panicking],” said Laker Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who grabbed Bryant playfully by the neck when Bryant returned from the locker room. “I got into ‘OK, that didn’t really happen, he’s just going in to change his uniform.’ ”

Bryant didn’t look overly sore after returning to the game.

He had two points and four turnovers before leaving. By halftime, he had 25 points on eight-for-13 shooting and no more turnovers. He had 17 points in the fourth quarter, prompting fans to call out his name in unison near the two-minute mark.

“What can you say about Kobe?” Tomjanovich said. “He was all over the place. Fantastic performance and it came right on time.”

Caron Butler, suspended for the Miami game because he punched New Orleans guard Dan Dickau last Wednesday, had 18 points. Lamar Odom had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

In the last two weeks, the Lakers had lost home games to Memphis and Washington, franchises they had been on a 29-0 roll against in L.A.

Against Toronto, a team still trying to find itself after dealing Vince Carter to New Jersey Dec. 17 for three players and two draft picks, the Lakers bobbed and weaved, never really assuming control of the game until the final minutes.

“A very big win for us, not only because we lost a couple of heartbreakers at home and we needed a win, but I think when you have these four days off, to lose this game, the negativity ... just rots and sometimes that can just kill a team’s confidence,” Tomjanovich said.

After a woeful third quarter in which they made six of 20 shots, the Lakers trailed going into the fourth, 82-81. Bryant led the recovery, his three-point shot giving the Lakers the lead for good, 95-93, with 5:40 left to play.

Jumaine Jones’ three-pointer from the corner provided a 107-98 lead and put the game out of reach with 2:36 left.

Bryant has been bothered most of the season by plantar fasciitis in his left foot, but he said he didn’t think the shoulder injury would be as lengthy.

“It really doesn’t feel like it’s one that going to linger,” said Bryant, who sat out eight games last season because of a sprained right shoulder. “I feel like it’ll go away.”