Bryant has 31, and it’s enough

This time around, it wasn’t nearly as memorable.

No 81-point outbursts. No comebacks from 18-point deficits. No need to alert the Basketball Hall of Fame.

What happened instead was a close call, a victory to forget rather than a game to frame, a 107-100 Lakers squeaker over the mild-mannered Toronto Raptors on Friday at Staples Center.

Ten months after carving out a permanent piece of NBA lore, Kobe Bryant had 31 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists Friday, a fairly complete game, although he tried to force a few too many passes for Phil Jackson’s liking.

The Lakers couldn’t shake the Raptors (2-6), who made it exciting, but not exactly the same way it was for Lakers fans back on Jan. 22.

“Well, we survived,” was about all Jackson needed to say, although he continued to use a variety of phrases, none of which were flattering for the Lakers (6-3).

The “offense stalled” and there was an appearance of “street ball,” followed up by a backhanded compliment: “We had to find a way to win, which is good for us,” he said.

Bryant, now with seven games in his personal file this season, had moments where he looked a little more like himself, slicing to the basket early in the second quarter and making a reverse layup to give the Lakers a 50-41 lead.

With the game still firmly unbalanced either way, Bryant posted up Raptors forward Fred Jones, spun and hit a left-handed eight-footer for a 101-98 Lakers lead with 1:50 to play.

But there were times he imposed his will on the game, leading to a stay on the bench for the last 3:55 of the third quarter.

Jackson said Bryant, who had six turnovers, was “hurting the team out there, trying to do too much, trying to make the plays for the team too often.”

“He’s feeling his way along,” Jackson said. “I think it’s kind of like Braille right now for him. The rhythm is not quite there, you know what I mean?”

Said Bryant: “It’s a work in progress. We are trying to build our offense, but the turnovers aren’t anywhere where we want them.”

As for his own play, Bryant said, “My legs feel good and I’m starting to feel that explosion. I had it in the second half, but I just didn’t trust myself.”

Bryant certainly wasn’t as spectacular as his last effort against the Raptors, in which his 55-point second half erased an 18-point deficit and led to a 122-104 victory, but a victory was what he said he wanted all week.

He mostly deflected questions about “81” leading up to the game, politely saying the Raptors were a different team now, and he would rather just pocket a victory.

He opened up a bit more an hour before the game, saying he clearly grasped the significance of his 81 points.

“I think I finally signed the last ticket from that game -- it seems like I signed all 18,997 from that night,” he said.

Friday night, the Lakers needed an infusion from rookie Jordan Farmar, who made a three-pointer and a driving layup on consecutive possessions to stir the crowd midway through the fourth quarter. They also limited the Raptors to two points in the final 2:27, holding on to what was a 99-98 lead at the time.

The Lakers were burned often by the Raptors’ dribble penetration, a concept that concerned Jackson before the game.

“Our perimeter defense and our defensive ability is going to be limited until Kobe’s 100% and until Smush [Parker] gets back that edge that he had as a stealer and as a disrupter defensively that he carried last year,” Jackson said. “That made us a much better team and gave us a chance to do things at the defensive end to disrupt teams, and we haven’t established that yet.”

The game marked the beginning of a telling three-game string for center Andrew Bynum, who had seven points and five rebounds.

Bynum was guarded Friday by Chris Bosh, one of the best young post players in the league. On Sunday, he’ll go up against Chicago’s Ben Wallace, and Tuesday, he’ll draw the Clippers’ Chris Kaman.

“Without a doubt, it’s a really great challenge for him,” Jackson said.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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KEYS TO THE GAME

* The Raptors made only three of 19 shots (15.8%) from three-point range.

* After Chris Bosh’s 11-footer brought the Raptors

to within 99-98, the Lakers scored eight of the game’s final 10 points.

* The Lakers made an impressive 40 of 73 shots (54.8%).

-- Mike Bresnahan