His presence helps to fill a huge void

Center Pau Gasol, out of the Lakers’ lineup for nine games after spraining his left ankle, said he wanted to play enough in his return Wednesday to get back into a routine.

That he did, playing the first six minutes, 37 seconds against the Portland Trail Blazers and nearly 32 minutes overall.

The Lakers initially got back into an old routine too.

The one in which they can’t defend the perimeter and struggle to put away an inferior opponent at Staples Center.

After allowing Portland to score 31 points and make six of 12 three-point shots in the first quarter, the Lakers retrenched defensively and handled the ball more surely, reducing their turnovers from seven in the first quarter to one in the second quarter.

But not until they held the Trail Blazers to 13 points in the third and rode Kobe Bryant’s 14-point final quarter were they assured of extending their Pacific Division lead over Phoenix to a game and staying 1 1/2 games behind New Orleans for the top seeding in the Western Conference.

Their final margin of victory, 104-91, makes it appear they had an easy night.

It wasn’t entirely a breeze. Certainly, it would have been much harder to complete without Gasol, who scored 10 points to go with six rebounds and seven assists.

It was far from his most productive night as a Laker, but it was significant nonetheless.

Here was another big body back in a lineup that had gone small and too often played that way.

Another scoring option to take the pressure off Lamar Odom.

Another premier starter, which pushed Ronny Turiaf back to the bench, where he can be most effective.

Another reason to believe the Lakers are getting close to being whole once again, with Gasol starting and Andrew Bynum inching closer to a full recovery from the dislocated kneecap he suffered in January.

Gasol said before the game he wasn’t returning simply to get a few minutes’ work here and there, but to play a lot.

“I feel confident I can go and be a factor,” he said, “and hopefully, that’s what’s going to happen.”

He was welcomed back with a huge ovation from fans who missed the size, post presence and scoring touch he brought in averaging 18.8 points in his first 19 games after the Lakers acquired him from Memphis.

He anticipated being rusty, and he was. At times he was out of breath. At other times, out of sync.

But he was also reasonably effective, fueling a third-quarter rally with a sweet, 15-foot jump shot that gave the Lakers a 67-59 lead.

“We were going to go by feel and see how the ankle was feeling out there and how I was feeling out there,” Gasol said of his extensive playing time. “No complaints. I really wanted to be there and work on my minutes, work on my conditioning and help the team, so it worked out pretty good.”

At the very least, he has begun the often tricky process of blending back into the lineup and finding his footing on a team that is still scuffling to secure home-court advantage in the tight Western playoff chase.

“He’s going to be a big help for us,” said Sasha Vujacic, who scored six points off the bench.

“Ronny and DJ [Mbenga] and Chris [Mihm], they were all doing great jobs, but he’s really a player of high caliber. I think it’s going to make the difference, and that inside presence is more than needed.”

The Lakers made do without Gasol -- Turiaf stepped up to average 11.3 points a game, though he was effective mostly in short spurts -- but their 5-4 record reflected their inconsistency at both ends of the floor and the degree they missed the 7-foot Spaniard.

He wasn’t fully healed Wednesday, but it probably hurt him less to play than to sit and watch again.

“It’s a little sore,” he said after the game. “Let’s see how it feels tomorrow morning.

“I’m excited I was able to go out there and really contribute. I can’t really twist much over my ankle.

“I try to keep everything in a straight line. Other than that everything else felt pretty good.”

Starting the game instead of coming in off the bench probably helped him, because his ankle was still limber from the pre-game warmups and he didn’t have to worry about it stiffening up or swelling again.

He was realistic about not expecting miracles in his first game back, and he didn’t get any. That was fine.

“I’ve been out for almost three weeks and I’ve been through one full practice,” he said.

“That’s all I’ve got. And a lot of desire, a lot of motivation to be out there and play well and be effective. That’s what I got.”

After the game, the fans got a shower of purple and gold confetti that dropped from the ceiling. It was glittery and giddy and almost like the celebration after a playoff victory -- a scene that could be repeated often with Gasol at optimal strength.

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.