Lakers all the rage on road

WASHINGTON -- What road trip?

The Lakers continue to make themselves at home wherever they go, blowing past the Washington Wizards with a torrid first half for a 103-91 victory Sunday at Verizon Center.

Kobe Bryant jumpstarted everything again, scoring 30 points on a variety of dunks, outside jumpers and other shots as the Lakers improved to 2-1 on a nine-game trip that doesn’t seem quite as intimidating as it did a few days ago.

That the Lakers played again without a true center only made their 24-point lead in the second quarter more remarkable.

Pau Gasol did not suit up -- Tuesday at New Jersey will probably mark his Lakers debut -- but he wasn’t needed because of a balanced effort from the starting frontcourt of Vladimir Radmanovic (15 points), Lamar Odom (14) and Ronny Turiaf (13).

Gasol, traded to the Lakers by the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, was kept out of the lineup for a variety of reasons, including a lack of familiarity with the triangle offense and minor back pain.

He logged almost 4,000 miles in the air Saturday and missed practice while getting a physical in Los Angeles before catching up with the team in Washington near midnight. He has a sore back that kept him out of three of his last four games with the Grizzlies, although he is expected to practice today.

“We’ll see how he plays, how he feels [today] and make a decision about the game on Tuesday,” Coach Phil Jackson said.

Bryant looked as keyed up as he did in the Lakers’ 121-101 win Friday in Toronto. He scored 19 points in the first quarter and guided them to a 30-15 lead over the Wizards.

He also brought out the airplane wings again, spreading his arms and gliding downcourt after a first-quarter dunk. (Former Lakers forward Caron Butler then mimicked Bryant after a reverse layup, although Bryant had the last laugh Sunday.) The Lakers led at halftime, 63-41, and by as many as 26 in the third quarter.

“It was very important for us to get out to a quick start here,” Bryant said. “We didn’t want them to gain much momentum. We were able to do that.”

Bryant was again spry and active, though he didn’t quite match his 46-point effort in Toronto. An assist can be credited to Gasol.

“He’s happy about the situation, and it reflects in his play,” Jackson said of Bryant. “It energized him. It’s going to be a big addition for us.”

Said Bryant: “It’s going to make my life and everybody else’s life easier.”

Other Lakers made it look easy Sunday. Radmanovic hit his first five shots. Odom made seven of 11. Turiaf was again a bundle of energy as an undersized but willing center.

The game got so far out of the Wizards’ control that a “Let’s go, Lakers” chant began in the third quarter. A series of boos quickly followed it. The chant started again in the fourth quarter, with significantly fewer boos.

“It’s weird hearing that on the road,” Bryant said. “Derek [Fisher] and I started looking at each other when they started chanting. We didn’t know where we were at.”

The Lakers knew enough to play solid defense, limiting the impact of the Wizards’ All-Star forwards, Butler and Antawn Jamison.

Butler, in his first game back after sitting out three games because of a hip injury, had 15 points on five-for-15 shooting. Jamison had 21 points on eight-for-21 shooting.

The Lakers still have six more games on the longest continuous trip in team history. In their favor, five of those games are against teams with losing records.

Bryant downplayed the trip before it began, saying some fans and reporters were treating it “like it was Murderers’ Row.”

Now the Lakers are wondering why they didn’t win three in a row to start it off.

“We all knew that we could come out here and play well,” Bryant said. “We’re very disappointed that we gave one away in Detroit. We feel like we should be 3-0 right now, but that was a good lesson for us. We knew that if we played with that kind of effort the rest of these games, we’d be fine.”

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com