Absence Has Others Taking It Up a Notch

The Lakers are 3-1 without Kobe Bryant, taking advantage of a favorable schedule and keeping a possible seat in the NBA playoffs warm until his return.

Lamar Odom has passed with precision amid a slew of double-teams, Chucky Atkins has made teams regretful by burying shots from outside, and Caron Butler has averaged 18 points a game, up from the 13.6 he was scoring with Bryant in the lineup.

And this: Of the Lakers’ next four games, all at Staples Center, only Seattle has a winning record. The Clippers, New Jersey and Charlotte are a combined 41-74.

With two losses to the Lakers in six days, the Golden State Warriors have a fair idea on how things have gone without Bryant.

“I’m not going to tell you they are a better team without Kobe in terms of their ability to win games, because of the ability of Kobe to do what he does,” Warrior Coach Mike Montgomery said. “What typically happens and what has happened here is every other person has stepped up and accepted more responsibility. You’re seeing Odom as the No. 1 option. I don’t know that they’re going to win more games, but they’re dangerous. Obviously they’ve been able to win without him.”

Odom made 10 of 16 shots and had 25 points and five assists in the Lakers’ 105-101 victory Friday over the Warriors.

“Lamar Odom has been their go-to guy,” Warrior guard Jason Richardson said. “I think we worried a little bit too much on coming in and double-teaming him and he was just picking us apart. He wasn’t just scoring, he was making people better.”

Atkins, averaging 22.3 points in the absence of Bryant, has made 34 of 69 shots, almost half taken from three-point range.

“Between me, Lamar and Chucky, we all took it up to another notch, Chucky especially,” Butler said. “He’s getting a lot of good looks. Guys are doubling Lamar, clogging the paint when I drive and he’s just right there for the kick-outs and he’s knocking them down every time. He’s a good shooter.”

Good passer too, with 21 assists over the last two games.

“Last year when I was in Boston, I was able to have the ball and do things like I was doing and make things happen much like I was [Friday],” Atkins said. “Every team I have been on, I have pretty much done the same things. I am just getting more minutes now.”

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The ever-evolving Laker offense -- Is its foundation the pick-and-roll? Or is it a three-point-shooter’s paradise? What about the brief flirtation with the triangle? And whatever happened to the up-tempo vision? -- has been successful in recent games, whatever it is. The Lakers have averaged 98.8 points and won four of their last five.

“We have a coach that likes to experiment with a lot of different things and he is giving us a lot of confidence to go ahead and play our game, and we are really benefiting from that,” Butler said of Rudy Tomjanovich. “He is a great coach.”