They seem to fire on all cylinders against Spurs

This Lakers-Spurs game at Staples Center was a lot like the auto show at the convention center next door. Every year we see what the carmakers are capable of producing, we drool over the exotic vehicles on display, then we return to streets filled with Dodge Caravans.

Sunday’s 106-99 victory over the Spurs was the concept car for this Lakers team. Elite-level scoring from Kobe Bryant, big inside games from Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum, triple-doubleish numbers from Lamar Odom, offensive balance, defensive intensity.

It featured a third quarter worth saving to DVD. The staggering numbers -- 37 points, nine assists, seven steals -- don’t even capture the intensity, the noise of the crowd, or even Ronny Turiaf’s jaunt down the sidelines to play a little hacky sack with the basketball during a timeout. Odom called it the best defensive quarter he has been a part of in his two-plus seasons as a Laker.

As person after person wondered aloud while they walked past my seat, why can’t the Lakers play every game like this?

For one thing, San Antonio isn’t on the schedule every night.

“Playing against the Spurs, you’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game,” Bryant said after his curve-setting 34 points.

Looking back over the Lakers’ previous 13 victories, only Phoenix and Utah stand up as first-class triumphs.

“We’ve been waiting for the competitive game we have to have, to see how our young players lived up to the challenge,” Coach Phil Jackson said.

Jackson noted that Bynum seems to get motivated by the opportunity to play against the league’s top big men. We all remember his baseline dunk against Shaquille O’Neal last season. Bynum’s defining play Sunday night was a straight-up block of a Tim Duncan shot, the highlight of his stat line that included eight rebounds and six points on three-for-four shooting. This after Bynum had been as forgettable as a Toyota Tercel in the previous two games.

And just when Brown appeared headed toward another frustrating night with a practically useless first half, he produced the big plays down the stretch, including a block of a Tony Parker layup that started a fastbreak and three-point play for Luke Walton at the other end and a manly grab of an Odom miss and angry follow-up dunk.

“I hung in there,” Brown said. “Last year, starting with no points and one rebound [in the first half] I would have hung my head a little bit.”

For most of his time in L.A., Brown has left Lakers fans scratching their heads, wondering when he’ll finally get the most from that sculpted physique of his.

“With him, every time he has games like this, it just fuels his confidence,” Bryant said.

It also makes everyone else ask why it can’t happen more often.

“This team does lose focus,” Jackson said. “We have to reenergize ourselves and get our focus back and sometimes losing does that to us. Also big games -- this team does rally and play animated games when they’re called upon to play them.”

Maintaining the same level is the great challenge in sports, the one thing that separates the superstars from the rest.

Take Odom. Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich had an interesting observation about him before the game, saying, “I always thought with him that it’s been a confidence thing, with him understanding that he can do what he does for 48 minutes. He doesn’t have to just do it for a while, he has that ability to have an impact on a game consistently throughout at both ends of the court.”

This season Odom has been able to produce numbers like Sunday’s 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists on a more regular basis, one reason the Lakers have improved.

Duncan and the Spurs are as consistent as a metronome. It’s to the Lakers’ credit that they forced the Spurs into an uncharacteristic 19 turnovers, which resulted in 27 points.

“I knew it was in this team,” Walton said. “We showed it at times. We’ll play a quarter with a lot of energy and score a lot of points and rotate on defense and get steals. Tonight we finally put a game together where everyone had each other’s backs, the energy level was high and people were making plays.”

Of course, the next step is to produce a game like this on the road, starting with back-to-back games in Houston and Dallas this week. The Lakers are 1-3 away from Staples Center this season.

On the road, they can’t count on the energy burst from the reserves they received in their two most recent games. In the purple uniforms they’ll be more dependent on Bryant, who returned from an ankle injury that kept him out against Atlanta on Friday.

Bryant is still learning to play a different style of game, as his surgically repaired knee doesn’t give him the same lift. Instead of soaring over the fortress walls, he’s going around or underneath -- like Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage in “The Rock.” That may be the reason he sprained his ankle against Indiana. He used to try to dunk on whomever was in his way. In that game he kept turning to the side and away from any contact, landing awkwardly one time on his right foot and injuring the ankle. Sometimes it’s subtle, such as his two-foot takeoff for a breakaway dunk Sunday night, a style he hasn’t used since his early days at the Forum.

As long as he can find a way to get 30-plus, the Lakers will get the scoring leader they need. And every other starter reached double figures Sunday.

What didn’t work out? Well, Smush Parker and Jordan Farmar were outscored, 21-12, by point guard Parker.

You wouldn’t expect those futuristic, 600-horsepower cars to get good gas mileage as well, would you?

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande go to latimes.com/adandeblog.