Time off will be good for Bryant

Kobe Bryant was back at work, shrugging off the first three quarters of Friday’s loss and peeking ahead into a quiet week in which he hoped to regain full strength in his right leg.

Bryant said his knee stiffened up on him during a 97-83 loss to the Detroit Pistons -- he had only two points before scoring 17 in the fourth quarter -- but the Lakers have four days between games after playing Memphis tonight. They won’t play again until Friday against Toronto, the team Bryant hit for 81 points in January.

“Four days makes a great difference,” said Bryant, who feels no pain in his surgically repaired knee. “It’s just a strength issue. When I play, I want to be at maximum level, to be able to defend, to be able to kick it into sixth gear, and it’s not strong enough to do that yet. It will be, though.”

Bryant estimated his knee was at 70% its normal strength, but said it would probably be at 95% by Friday.

The team will not practice one of the four days, and Bryant will give his knee equal parts rest and rehabilitation, the latter consisting of weight training and manual-resistance exercises that will strengthen the leg and muscles surrounding the knee.

“It’s about getting over that hump, and once you get over that hump, you’re fine,” Bryant said.

In the meantime, he indicated there might be more games where he was in single-digit scoring entering the fourth quarter.

“It’s just a matter of just reading the flow of the game and trying to help us grow as a team and sticking to what we do, and then in the fourth quarter, taking it in my hands a little bit,” he said. “I don’t really sweat it too much. If I have games where I have four or two [points] or something like that and things are going well for us, I’m more than happy to stick with it. If it’s not, and I’ve got to kick it up, I’ll kick it up.”

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Smush Parker was the talk of the town a year ago, an apparent find after averaging 17.8 points in the team’s first four games.

He’s off to a more frayed start this season, averaging 8.1 points and shooting 36.4% through seven games.

What gives?

“I have no idea,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “One of my coaches was saying that last year at this time, Smush had 10 dunks, eight steals, no turnovers through so many games. He’s just not in the rhythm of the game right now.

“We just have to stay solid for a little bit and see how it plays out. It’s too early to pull the plug on anything.”

Parker, who had been with three teams in two NBA seasons before signing with the Lakers, had been used to playing during off-seasons, marketing his game to any and all teams as a free agent.

“Last year, I played summer league. I was playing ball all summer,” he said. “This summer, I didn’t play any ball. I couldn’t find anywhere to play. I was here half the summer by myself, working out, just doing individual work, so I didn’t get a chance to run.”

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Kwame Brown is scheduled to see a doctor Monday, but he might play tonight against Memphis. The Lakers center practiced Saturday despite feeling pain in his neck and shoulder area.

TONIGHT

vs. Memphis, 6:30, FSN West

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 570; 1330.

Records -- Lakers 4-3; Grizzlies 1-4.

Record vs. Grizzlies (2005-06) -- 1-3.

Update -- The Grizzlies have struggled without forward Pau Gasol, sidelined because of a broken bone in his left foot. The Lakers have lost six of their last seven games against the Grizzlies.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com