Lakers Better by a Third

For once, the third quarter was an ally instead of an adversary, a pleasant surprise for a team that again found its way a day after losing to San Antonio.

It wasn’t easy -- it rarely is -- but the Lakers tucked away the Seattle SuperSonics, 106-93, Friday at KeyArena, sprung by a portion of the game that usually sinks them.

The 12 minutes after halftime have been the end of many Laker games, but the Lakers outscored the Sonics this time, 29-17, turning a four-point deficit into an 81-73 lead.

With it, the Lakers remained 1 1/2 games ahead of eighth-place Sacramento with eight games left in their regular season, six at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant had 43 points, Kwame Brown had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and the Lakers avoided losing to the team with the second-worst record in the Western Conference.

Bryant, who made 17 of 38 shots, had his 22nd 40-point game of the season, one shy of the team record set by Elgin Baylor in the 1962-63 season.

He had 14 points in the third quarter as the Lakers held the Sonics to four-for-21 shooting, a marked difference from Thursday, when the Lakers were outscored by the Spurs in the third quarter, 35-18, on the way to a 96-85 loss.

“The third quarter’s been our nemesis,” Bryant said. “We played well enough to give us a cushion going into the fourth.”

Bryant had help from Brown, who rebounded from a so-so game against San Antonio, and Ronny Turiaf, who was playing 280 miles from Gonzaga University, where he created a name for himself before being drafted by the Lakers in June.

Turiaf had six points, seven rebounds, and a memorable blocked shot on SuperSonic forward Rashard Lewis that helped close out the third quarter.

It wasn’t a completely clean getaway for the Lakers.

Bryant edged closer to a one-game suspension by picking up his 14th technical foul of the season on a charging call with 5:26 left in the second quarter. Bryant, who put the ball into the chest of referee Greg Willard a little too hard for Willard’s liking, will be automatically suspended by the league if he picks up a 16th technical foul.

A warning letter was already sent to the team after Bryant’s 12th technical foul and he has accrued $20,500 in automatic fines for his technical fouls this season.

Bryant was suspended for two games earlier in the season after elbowing Memphis guard Mike Miller in the chin. He is hoping the league will rescind Friday’s technical.

“They have to,” he said. “That’s ridiculous.”

Coach Phil Jackson was less optimistic.

“I don’t think they’re in a rescinding mood,” he said.

Jackson, for his part, was in an animated and active mood throughout the game, even before the third quarter rolled around.

Brown and Sasha Vujacic heard about their mistakes from Jackson, who admonished Vujacic for inadequate defense and buried a finger in Brown’s chest after he was stripped in the post by guard Luke Ridnour midway through the second quarter.

Before the game, Jackson acknowledged the Lakers were “still a little short in talent,” pointing to the overall youth of the team, and said there had been a personal adjustment this season in his acceptance of losses that “are going to be taken along the way and swallowed.”

The Lakers struggled in the first quarter, making two of their first 11 shots and trailing, 15-6, before the game was five minutes old.

They found their balance, stayed close in the first half and ultimately took their first lead, 63-61, on Smush Parker’s driving layup with 6:57 left in the third quarter.

From there, they moved to 8-10 in the second game of back-to-back situations, already an improvement over last season’s 5-14 record in such games.