Bryant takes big strides

Kobe Bryant had 16 points and four assists Sunday against Chicago, numbers that represented a reasonable half for him in a typical game last season.

Bryant has continued to be patient with his low scoring, saying his improvement shouldn’t be shaped by statistics.

“Actually, I felt like [Sunday] was a big step because defensively I felt like I played extremely well,” Bryant said. “I was having to chase [Kirk] Hinrich and [Ben] Gordon around. That’s a lot of movement for anybody, let alone me. I’m still trying to get into game condition.”

Hinrich and Gordon combined for 13 points on four-for-16 shooting in the Lakers’ 82-72 victory.

“I think we’re seeing, incrementally, Kobe getting better-conditioned and more comfortable out there on the floor,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “He’s not pleased with the way he’s playing totally. His turnovers [are] too high, and things are happening too much that we’d like to see him avoid. He’s putting himself in danger situations, contact situations.

“He got banged on the knee in the other game [while] putting himself in the drive to get to the free-throw line, and those are the things that we’d just as soon not have him go after right now.”

Bryant is still considered among the league elite, a possible difference maker tonight against the Clippers.

“We might feel like we have a deeper roster, but talent-wise, when you’ve got a player like Kobe Bryant, that’s big for them,” Clippers forward Elton Brand said. “He’s an X-factor. He can go off for 81 points in a game and do things like that. He can make up for a lot of things.”

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Forward Vladimir Radmanovic created his own Hallway Series in July, leaving the Clippers as a free agent for a similar five-year, $30.2-million contract from the Lakers.

He was hoping to get more playing time with the Lakers, but a nagging ligament injury in his right hand has limited his effectiveness. After averaging 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds with the Clippers and Seattle last season, he is averaging six points and 2.9 rebounds in only 15.7 minutes with the Lakers.

“He’s been struggling,” Jackson said. “But I told him that players figure out how to contribute and they rebound and do other things. [Against Toronto], he gave us a lot of stuff off the bench -- got offensive rebounds, got up to the basket and dunked a ball, got a three-point play.”

Radmanovic has not regretted his decision -- “In this case, it wasn’t money ... there were some things I wanted to change,” he said -- and his hand has felt slightly better.

“Hopefully, it’ll stay that way,” he said. “You always get hit on it, no matter how you try to save it. It’s not getting worse, which was one of my concerns.”

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Rookie guard Jordan Farmar is day to day because of a sprained right ankle, but a team spokesman said he probably would not play tonight, leaving the door open for Aaron McKie to be activated for the first time this season.... Center Kwame Brown has looked good offensively in practice. “We played ‘pivots’ with the big guys last week, and Kwame definitely showed his dominance in the post with the other big guys,” Jackson said. “We’re still waiting to see him flesh out the rest of his game in a live-court situation.”

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Times staff writer Jason Reid contributed to this report.