Bryant, Lakers show a flair for the dramatic

Gathered together in the Pacific Northwest, the Lakers officially resumed their chase of a playoff spot.

Four losses in five games had pushed them into a late-season funk, but Friday brought an unusually sunny day here, along with the brightening of the Lakers’ disposition after a 112-109 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics at Key Arena.

Kobe Bryant played exceptionally well -- 46 points, six assists and five rebounds -- and Lamar Odom played well enough, finishing with 20 points on nine-for-11 shooting. Odom also had seven assists.

Their defense was strong in the end -- not a misprint -- and the Lakers (40-36) stayed half a game ahead of the Denver Nuggets for sixth place in the Western Conference. The Nuggets (39-36) play the Clippers (37-37) tonight at Staples Center.

These being the Lakers, the game was filled with drama, even apart from their comeback from a 12-point third-quarter deficit.

Smush Parker was benched for another fourth quarter after scoring only three points on one-for-five shooting in 24 minutes. He left with 4:03 to play in the third quarter and remained near the end of the bench during subsequent timeouts.

Parker started despite his critical remarks toward Coach Phil Jackson after Thursday’s practice, but Jordan Farmar took away most of his time while he sat.

Controversy? The Lakers? Never.

“I’m not going to address that at this point,” Jackson said when asked if the point-guard position was open. “We’ll deal with that [today] when we look at the tape.”

Farmar’s numbers weren’t impressive -- three points and two assists in 14 minutes -- but he seemed to bring some zing. And, in case anybody’s asking, he wouldn’t mind starting Sunday against the Phoenix Suns.

“Without a doubt,” he said. “That’s what my ultimate goal is, to be the starting point guard here.”

Parker toed the company line after the game.

“Jordan did a great job off the bench,” Parker said. “Coach played him because he deserved to be out there. Jordan just did a better job, gave us a lift and we won.”

Said Bryant: “At this point in the season, you’ve got to focus on what’s really important, which is us, not a particular individual. You have to understand that Phil was going to do what’s right. As coach, he has to make sure that the ship is going in the right direction. Players have to understand that it’s nothing personal. We are on the same page. We’re in this together.”

The score was tied at 103-103 before Bryant made a fade-away 20-footer with 1:39 to play.

Then the Lakers tightened up defensively in the final 90 seconds. Farmar stole the ball from Rashard Lewis, Ronny Turiaf was credited with a steal after a bad pass by Earl Watson, and the Lakers’ big men forced Nick Collison into an off-balance shot that glanced off the bottom of the backboard. Turiaf also blocked Damien Wilkins’ layup attempt.

“We can’t stop everybody. The other team is not going to score zero points,” Turiaf said. “But one thing you can say is we’re going to play as hard as we can.”

You couldn’t really say that in the first half.

The SuperSonics (30-46) entered the game with the second-worst record in the Western Conference. That they lost starting point guard Luke Ridnour to a sprained ankle in the first quarter and were playing without injured All-Star guard Ray Allen didn’t seem to make a difference in the first half.

The Lakers didn’t look overly motivated, falling behind, 57-49, as their defense was again kind to an opponent. They ended giving up more than 100 points for the 14th time in 16 games.

The Lakers also struggled at the center position.

With Kwame Brown staying behind in Los Angeles after aggravating his sprained left ankle, the Lakers got almost nothing from Andrew Bynum. He started in Brown’s place, had more fouls (three) than points (zero) at halftime, and it didn’t get much better. He finished with no points and four fouls.

Turiaf, however, pitched in with 10 points, six coming in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers still haven’t beaten a team with a winning record since winning at Utah on Feb. 26. But a victory is a victory, even against the SuperSonics.

After all, Jackson asked rhetorically, “Who wants to back into the playoffs?”

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Staff writer Steve Springer contributed to this report.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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KEYS TO THE GAME

* Kobe Bryant had 46 points, six assists and five rebounds.

* The Lakers’ reserves came through, scoring 33 points. Brian Cook had 11 points and Ronny Turiaf had 10.

* The Lakers’ defense, maligned most of the season, held the Sonics to 23 points in the fourth quarter, including a meaningless three-pointer at the buzzer by Rashard Lewis.

-- MIKE BRESNAHAN