Lakers Buck Up in 111-92 Victory

No matter what happens, no matter which players come, go or stop by random home games to lounge in courtside seats, the Lakers can always take comfort in one fact of NBA life.

There’s always Milwaukee.

The Lakers continued their dominance over the franchise that generously gave them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30 years ago and defeated the more modern version of the Bucks, 111-92, Tuesday at Bradley Center.

Kobe Bryant had an efficient 33 points, and Lamar Odom had 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as the Lakers won a ninth consecutive game against the Bucks, their longest current winning streak against any team.

Bryant made 14 of 24 shots and had six assists in one of his best all-around games of the season, pushing the Lakers to a solid start on a six-game trip against five teams with winning records.

Smush Parker had 20 points, the offense looked better than it had all season, and, with the Toronto Raptors on the schedule tonight, there could be a three-game win streak, something that didn’t happen last season until the last week of February.

The Lakers held a 19-point lead in the third quarter and showed they could handle it after blowing an 18-point lead last week against Minnesota and a 14-point lead against Utah, the latter of which they salvaged in overtime.

“We’re getting better at having big leads and playing all the way through,” Bryant said. “We’ve blown, like, five 15-point leads. It’s important for us, especially being a young team, to stay on top.”

There’s something about Milwaukee that brings out the best in the Lakers.

Last year, Bryant glided across the court, arms spread out, after he blocked Buck guard Michael Redd’s last-second shot to preserve a Laker victory. Snowflakes collected in Bryant’s three-quarters-length fur coat as he stepped onto the bus after that game, but there was nothing quite as scenic this time around in icy, frigid Milwaukee.

“It’s freezing out here,” Bryant said. “My face hurts. I went to L.A. [from Philadelphia] and got soft. I should be used to this weather.”

There was also nothing particularly warm before the game.

“We’re just out here kind of treading water as a basketball team right now,” Coach Phil Jackson said.

To counter the Bucks’ three-guard lineup, guard Sasha Vujacic started instead of forward Brian Cook, which paid off as the Lakers took the first quarter, 34-25. Parker had 16 points in the quarter and eventually became the first Laker with seven steals in a game since Eddie Jones had as many in December 1996. Seven steals was also a league-high in a game this season.

With Parker, Odom and Bryant supplying most of the scoring, the Lakers had three players with 20-plus points for a fourth time this season; it happened four times all last season.

Jackson questioned Bryant’s shot selection after a nine-for-30 effort Sunday against Charlotte, but he approved of Tuesday’s effort

“They were good shots,” Jackson said. “There were some that were eyebrow-raisers out there, I’ll tell you, that made us wonder what was going on. But by and large most of his shots were good.

“Kobe got things rolling and had a great [first] half. Lamar and Smush had some real nice opportunities because of it.”

Tuesday could have been the first sign of momentum for a team that will face Toronto, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Memphis in the next eight days.

“This is a big road trip for us,” Odom said. “We want to go in there [tonight], and it’d be a good time to play your best game of the year so we could keep it going a little bit.”