98% of Kobe just enough for Lakers

In a career of spectacular games, Kobe Bryant had a performance Friday night that deserves a mention.

It wasn’t like his 81 points against Toronto. Or his 62 points against Dallas. Or any of his big moments in the NBA Finals.

No, Bryant simply had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the Lakers’ 109-106 victory over the Orlando Magic at Staples Center.

He scored the Lakers’ last 10 points to help them end a two-game losing streak by holding off the Southeast Division leaders, who had come in with a five-game winning streak.

Oh yeah, and one more thing. Bryant did it all on one good leg.

A mild groin strain left him grounded, the high-flying superstar reduced to a foot soldier. Bryant, who suffered the injury in the second quarter of Wednesday’s game against the Rockets in Houston, generally stayed out of the lane Friday night as if someone had slapped a wet paint sign in the key, settling instead for perimeter shots.

Bryant downplayed the injury afterward.

“I felt fine,” he said. “I felt 98%. I felt good. I wasn’t thinking about the groin at all.”

Orlando Coach Brian Hill also downplayed Bryant’s injury.

“You know, every guy on that floor has been hobbled at one time or another,” he said. “They all have something wrong with them. Kobe’s Kobe.”

Point guard Smush Parker helped out with a career-high 26 points. He made nine of 16 shots, including five of eight from three-point range.

Parker was also into downplaying.

“We just ran our offense today,” he said, “and my teammates did a good job of finding me when I was open.”

Orlando got 25 points from Dwight Howard, and 20 from Grant Hill.

But a key to the loss was at the free-throw line, where Howard missed nine of 16 shots and the Magic made only 25 of 39 (64.1% ).

Howard also had a game-high 10 rebounds, but the Lakers won the battle of the boards, 41-38, despite the fact that nobody in purple and gold had more rebounds than the eight collected by Bryant.

Jackson predicted before the game that Bryant would be missing some of his “explosiveness” on the court.

That was never more evident than at the end of the first three quarters, normally Bryant’s favorite time when he looks for clock-defying buzzer beaters. On each occasion, as the seconds ticked down to zero, Bryant had the ball in his hands. And each time, he passed up a shot, looking instead for a teammate.

And each time, the Lakers failed to score.

Still, with Bryant looking more for open teammates than open shots and the rest of the Lakers finding the resolve and the effectiveness that had been too often missing in their previous two games, the Lakers managed to fend off charge after charge by the Magic.

The Lakers had a 55-53 lead at halftime and still clung to an 82-81 advantage after three quarters.

Still, with the final seconds ticking away, the Magic had a chance to tie the score. Jameer Nelson, shaking free of Parker, who went for a steal, threw up a desperation heave that missed as the buzzer sounded.

And so this enigmatic Lakers team continues its strange run, beating the league’s top teams and struggling against the also-rans. A victory Sunday over the Dallas Mavericks, owners of the best record in the league, followed by losses to the Memphis Grizzlies, owners of the worst record, and the Rockets, struggling to find their way without injured Yao Ming.

And then came Friday night against another division leader.

Anybody who thought the Lakers couldn’t win this one with a hobbled Kobe Bryant didn’t have a leg to stand on.

steve.springer@latimes.com

*

KEYS TO THE GAME

* The ability of Kobe Bryant, though slowed by a groin strain, to find a way to lead the Lakers offensively.

* Smush Parker’s career-high 26 points, including five-for-eight shooting from three-point range.

* Dwight’s Howard’s dismal game at the free-throw line for Orlando; he missed nine of 16 attempts on a night when the Magic had a free-throw percentage of 64.1%.

-- STEVE SPRINGER