This time it’s Turiaf with spark

Somewhere in the beach towns of Playa del Rey and Newport Beach, Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant were smiling.

Without their coach and their nine-time All-Star, the Lakers blew past another opponent, the Golden State Warriors, with another solid effort from a young post player and more “we’re better than you think” moments in a 110-98 victory Wednesday at Oracle Center.

Lamar Odom was aggressive at all the right times, close to a triple-double with 22 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Ronny Turiaf showed spark underneath the basket, nailing career-highs with 23 points and nine rebounds in only his 25th NBA game.

The Lakers continued to shrug off their injury-ravaged roster with another stirring victory, ruining Don Nelson’s re-entry as an NBA head coach a day after spoiling the fun of the Phoenix Suns’ run-and-gun.

And to think a soft part of the schedule is coming up, with two games against Seattle, followed by Minnesota, Portland, a brief reality check against Detroit, and then Memphis and Toronto.

The Lakers’ injuries are still distressing to team officials -- Bryant is day-to-day, and centers Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm are still at least two weeks from returning -- but the Lakers pressed on, Turiaf in particular.

“They keep telling us, ‘You have to take care of business while we’re gone,’ and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Turiaf said. “Just think when these guys get back.... It’s going to be fun to watch.”

A year ago, Turiaf was coming back from open-heart surgery, plowing through one hurdle after another, the largest being an enlarged aortic root that left him shaken to the point of telling reporters he was “scared of dying” a couple days before he had surgery in July 2005. The diameter of his aorta was 5.6 centimeters, about 50% larger than normal, which increased the probability of a rupture.

He successfully came back from that, no small accomplishment in its own, but then had to prove his way in the CBA and fight visa problems -- he is a French citizen -- before finally playing for the Lakers on Feb. 8.

The 37th pick in the 2005 draft, he picked up on Wednesday where Andrew Bynum left off Tuesday against Phoenix, making eight of 10 shots and providing a timely lift.

“It’s a blessing just to be part of this, to be part of something,” said Turiaf, 23, who still must wear a pad made of foam and plastic to protect his sternum. “Last year was tough at this time, lying down in my bed and not able to move.”

Odom played a part as well, drilling a three-pointer and a driving layup on consecutive possessions to give the Lakers a 75-65 lead with 4:14 left in the third quarter. The Warriors were never again a threat, and their fans streamed for the exits midway through the final quarter.

“He’s so long, he’s big, he’s strong, he can handle the basketball,” said assistant coach Kurt Rambis, who took Jackson’s place on the Lakers’ bench. “There’s so many things he can do when he is aggressive, when he is attacking the basket. We need him to have an aggressive mind-set in the very beginning of the ballgame.”

Odom deferred too much to Bryant last season, which brings the natural question: Will Odom’s aggressiveness still be there when Bryant returns?

“We hope it’s going to be there,” Rambis said. “That’s something that Kobe can help facilitate too. Kobe encouraged him as much as anybody last year to be aggressive. We’re just going to hope that that’s going to continue.”

The Lakers are returning, slowly. Shammond Williams returned after being sidelined by an abdominal strain, totaling three points and three assists in 22 minutes.

But, as Rambis said beforehand, the Lakers are still a work in progress. The full team hasn’t yet assembled, after all.

“That won’t happen until we’ve got our roster back and that roster has some time to work games and get playing time underneath their belts -- those minutes that they need together for a starting unit and also a unit that comes off the bench,” Rambis said. “We haven’t had that basically since training camp opened.”

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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Missing Bryant

Kobe Bryant, who did not play in Wednesday’s game at Golden State, has sat out 37 games for various reasons since the 2003-04 season and the Lakers are 16-21 in his absence.

*--* 2003-04 Injury/Reason (games missed) Record * Sore right knee (1) 1-0 * Sprained right shoulder (6) 2-4 * Laceration, right index finger (7) 4-3 * Personal reasons (1) 0-1 * Sprained right shoulder (2) 1-1 2004-05 Injury/Reason (games missed) Record * Sprained right ankle (14) 6-8 * Bruised right shin (1) 0-1 * Personal reasons (1) 0-1 2005-06 Injury/Reason (games missed) Record * Suspension (2) 0-2 2006-07 Injury/Reason (games missed) Record * Right knee surgery (2) 2-0

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Source: NBA.com