Lakers give the Magic the old 1-2

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Lakers staggered into the center of Florida, weighed down by a sore back and dislocated pinkie finger.

Then they hopped off the trainer’s table and showed they were just fine, thanks.

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol took turns ignoring their injuries with bursts of offense, and Lamar Odom had the defensive play of the game to push the Lakers to a 117-113 victory Friday over the Orlando Magic at Amway Arena.

That it came against one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and in the sixth game of a historically long nine-game trip made it that much more impressive.

That it happened with Bryant (36) and Gasol (30) becoming the first Lakers to sore 30-plus points in the same game since April 2005 revealed a one-two punch that hadn’t been seen in a while -- although it was a common occurrence on the Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal championship teams earlier in this decade.

That the Lakers prevailed despite giving up 44 points in the first 12 minutes -- a Magic record for points in a first quarter -- demonstrated a will to clamp down when it counted most, late in the game.

When it was over, having shown they could win close games on this trip, they were elated, relieved, and actually irritated with themselves.

“You figure we kind of gave away that Atlanta game [Wednesday] and that Detroit game [Jan. 31] was kind of tough,” Odom said. “I shot an airball at the end of that game. We could easily be 6-0 [on the trip], right?”

On the other hand, there seems to be a new aura surrounding the Lakers (32-17), who moved to 2-1 with Gasol and 4-2 on their 15-day journey.

Or, as Odom said, “It’s a big difference when you expect to win every game.”

The last three on the trip are against teams with a combined 37-109 record -- Miami (9-39), Charlotte (18-32) and Minnesota (10-38) -- although the Lakers weren’t willing to look too far ahead, perhaps because they almost got left behind again in the fourth quarter.

They took an 89-75 lead on a 17-footer by Gasol with 3:52 left in the third quarter, but the Magic steadily hacked into it. Jameer Nelson’s nine-footer gave the Magic a 108-106 lead with 4:02 to play.

Unlike their one-point loss to Detroit and three-point loss to Atlanta, the Lakers pushed back.

Dwight Howard was called for goaltending on Odom’s leaner with 30.5 seconds to play, giving them a 115-112 lead. Then Odom sneaked behind Rashard Lewis in the right corner and blocked his three-point attempt, which fluttered harmlessly into Bryant’s hands with 14.7 seconds left. Bryant was immediately fouled and made both free throws.

End of threat, end of game, and end of teams with winning records on the trip that just won’t quit.

Odom, who was initially rubbed out on the play by a screen, was almost giddy afterward, saying he blocked the ball with “those strong left-handed fingertips.”

“I was beat a little bit. It was a good play they had set up. He got to the corner and I was just able to get behind him enough and get a little piece of the ball.”

Little piece, big play, although nothing was too small to be overlooked in this one, not even the new tape job on Bryant’s right pinkie.

After shooting a combined seven for 29 in his previous two games, Bryant said he would play without tape on his right pinkie and ring fingers. He didn’t go quite that far Friday, but trainer Gary Vitti applied a different tape job, making it thicker between the webbing of the two fingers.

“We taped it, spread it out a little bit,” said Bryant, who made 11 of 26 shots. “Gary kind of built a bridge between the two fingers.”

Early on, it looked as if Bryant and Gasol would each need to score 50 for the Lakers to be competitive.

Maurice Evans scored eight first-quarter points and the Magic tied a team record with eight three-pointers in the quarter, including one by Brian Cook at the buzzer to give Orlando a 44-33 lead.

But Evans, who was a Laker with Cook until the Trevor Ariza trade on Nov. 20, slowed down. Evans finished with 12 points, Cook with 11. Howard, limited to 29 minutes by foul trouble, had 19 points and 11 rebounds.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com