Bench gives Lakers their second wind

Kobe Bryant ambled into the tranquility of the trainers’ room, leaving behind the pregame locker-room bustle -- where eight local reporters surrounded the home-grown kid, Andrew Bynum, for interviews -- to do something he needed to do.

He draped an arm over his eyes and napped on a massage table.

Fatigue? No. Boredom? Also a negative.

He had to sleep, recover some energy while fighting off an upper respiratory infection that forced him to miss Friday morning’s shoot-around. Not a bad idea.

Bryant and the Lakers needed everything they could muster to fend off the New Jersey Nets, collecting another road victory, 99-95, Friday night at Continental Airlines Arena.

Bryant wasn’t much of a shooter -- four for 13 from the field -- but he made 11 of 12 free throws and had 11 assists to go with 21 points.

He was more than supported by a bench that outscored Nets reserves, 42-23, and racked up another strong showing after plundering the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s victory.

Maurice Evans had 12 points, and his fourth-quarter defense against Vince Carter proved to be a difference-maker. Bynum, born in Plainsboro, N.J., and Jordan Farmar each had 10 points, and Vladimir Radmanovic had eight.

Surprised? The Lakers are now 18-9 overall, 2-1 on their six-game trip, and 3-3 without Lamar Odom. They have games against Miami, Orlando and Charlotte before they can head back home.

“We’re glad we’ve been able to maintain,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “We now have three more left. We want to play 50% on the road. We want to get another win in these next three.”

It won’t be difficult if the bench continues to produce.

Looking more and more like a draft-day steal, Evans played all but 23 seconds of the fourth quarter, locking up with Carter after Bryant got in foul trouble. Carter scored 33 points, but was one for six in the fourth quarter, including a game-clinching miss from three-point range with 2.9 seconds left and the Nets behind, 98-95.

“I just wanted him to have to take tough shots,” said Evans, who was acquired from Detroit in June for the rights to second-round pick Cheick Samb. “As a result, he started taking fade-aways and having to put the ball on the floor and having to do a lot with it. I think that made him a little uncomfortable.”

Despite that, the Lakers were feeling a little uneasy after a late 10-0 run by the Nets nearly erased what had been a 13-point lead with 2:57 to play.

They had just enough padding to secure a victory, and it ended in just enough time for Bryant to celebrate in his own way.

“I’m looking forward to going back to the room and getting some rest,” he said after playing 40 minutes. “I was struggling with it right before we left to come out on this road trip. I’ve kind of been trying to fight it off and last night it just caught up to me.”

The game had a herky-jerky feel at times, delayed early in the first quarter when the lights dimmed without warning and, more seriously, when Nets center Nenad Krstic went down because of a knee injury after spinning in the post against Kwame Brown in the third quarter.

But the Lakers were quietly satisfied afterward. Bryant managed a smile or two during his interview session, and Evans, happy to be a Laker, spoke in the big-picture context.

“I’m having a lot of fun watching our growth,” he said. “We went through so many spells this year already, with Kobe injured and now Lamar is injured.

“Chemistry is so important in this game, and ours has changed about four or five times throughout the course of this season already. So now we’re going to have to readjust when L.O. comes back, but I think we’re doing a good job holding it down.”

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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Halfway home

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The Lakers have reached the midpoint of their six-game trip. They return to Staples Center to play Philadelphia (minus Allen Iverson) on Dec. 31:

*--* Dec. 19 at Chicago 94, Lakers 89 Dec. 20 Lakers 111, at Minnesota 94 Dec. 22 Lakers 99, at New Jersey 95 Monday at Miami 11:30 a.m. PST, Ch. 7 Wednesday at Orlando 4 p.m. PST, Ch. 9* Friday at Charlotte 4 p.m. PST, Ch. 9* *Tape-delayed to 5:30 p.m. PST

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Los Angeles Times