Laker News

Bryant scored 21 points and Odom had 20 points and 16 rebounds in a 91-81 victory over the hapless Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night in Phil Jackson's 500th game as Lakers' coach.

"That's what we need, that 1-2 punch," Bryant said. "We'll continue to provide that."

Andrew Bynum added 11 points, Smush Parker scored 10 and Odom had seven assists as the Lakers ended a two-game losing streak.

Asked if it was his best game so far, Odom replied: "If you're stat watching, maybe, but it's the team effort that counts. We could've played better in the second half, but we gave ourselves enough of a cushion to sustain a victory."

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"We played terrible," Bryant said. "We kind of ran around like a chicken with our head cut off."

Bryant was briefly on the bench in the fourth quarter, his right knee wrapped in a heat pad. He returned with eight minutes left and the Lakers down by 18. He ran off eight in a row, capped by a 3-pointer, that got the crowd into it, but still had his team trailing 85-68.

"I felt OK," he said. "It was a little stiff. It's just not strong. I can't turn into sixth gear yet."

Bryant took only four shots in the first three quarters.

"He was labored," coach Phil Jackson said. "That's going to happen right now. We're not going to panic."

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The Blazers (3-2), who led by as many as 15 points, have won five straight against the Lakers at the Rose Garden arena.

Randolph, who has averaged 28 points and 10.5 rebounds over Portland's first five games, had a two-handed dunk to put the Blazers ahead 78-69 early in the fourth quarter.

Kobe Bryant scored 32 points for the Lakers (4-2), and made it close with a layup and a free throw that narrowed it to 93-86 with 1:41 left. But Stephen Graham answered with a 3-pointer for the Blazers to seal it.

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"I had to pinch myself, but it was definitely really cool out there to get a home win in front of our fans and have them cheering for you," Bynum said. "That was the first time they were cheering my name, so that felt pretty good."

Kobe Bryant, in the third game of his comeback from last summer's knee surgery, had 17 points while taking only seven shots, and added six assists as all the Lakers' starters scored in double figures.

Bryant said that Bynum's hard work over the summer is paying off.

"It's just on me to be big brother, to be happy for him and tell him how good of a job he's done," said the 28-year-old Bryant, who also came into the league straight out of high school.

Bynum said he has learned some valuable lessons from Abdul-Jabbar.

"We've had a lot of sessions and we talk about different things every day," Bynum said. "But the most important thing he was telling me about was anchoring the defense and how much energy you can create from blocking people's shots and making the other team have to think about coming right down the lane for a layup, which is what happened tonight."

Minnesota coach Dwane Casey said Bynum's schooling is obvious.

"Kareem's done a heck of a job with developing him," Casey said. "Last year, he didn't even look like he belonged in the NBA. This year, he looks like he belongs.

"He plays with a lot of confidence. He knows what he's doing down there, and he's a load."

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Seattle overcame a sluggish start, finally displayed some defense absent in its first two games, and showed its expected offensive potency. Allen made 10 of 16 shots and added six assists.

Seattle put five players in double figures and avoided its first 0-3 start since 1985, a needed victory with a five-game East Coast road trip starting Tuesday in Miami.

Rashard Lewis added 25 points and Luke Ridnour scored 22 points with seven assists for Seattle (1-2).

In his second game since knee surgery, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers (3-1) with 15 points, but was just 4-of-10 from the field. He added nine assists and was assessed a technical foul in the fourth quarter.

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Ray Allen had 30 points and Rashard Lewis added 28 for Seattle (0-2), which trailed by 20 points in the first half.

Bryant, coming back from offseason knee surgery, played 40 minutes and went 8-of-15 from the field. He had six assists and four rebounds.

Odom made five free throws in the closing 36 seconds to help the Lakers hold off the Sonics. Luke Walton had 20 points and eight rebounds for Los Angeles.

Bryant appeared to be moving as well as ever in the win over Seattle, although he seemed rusty at times -- such as when he drove and left a finger-roll layup on the front of the rim in the second quarter.

Odom added nine rebounds and nine assists, and Luke Walton scored 15 points as the Lakers followed up their surprising 114-106 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night with a thorough thumping of the Warriors in coach Don Nelson's inauspicious debut.

Bryant stayed home to rest his surgically repaired right knee, and coach Phil Jackson also remained in Los Angeles while he's recovering from hip replacement surgery four weeks ago -- but the Lakers' role players and assistant coaches led their 10th win in 11 meetings with Golden State.

Assistant Kurt Rambis, who ran the club in Jackson's absence, doesn't know when Bryant will be back in action -- but with Turiaf's impressive play and Odom's steady efforts, the Lakers didn't need either of their marquee names.

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Lamar Odom was absolutely terrific tonight- 34 points (ties his career high), 13 boards, and 6 assists. He punished the Phoenix "big men" with a variety of shots inside the paint and got them in foul trouble. Andrew Bynum looked liked a man amongst boys at times snatching rebounds and showing great touch on his inside game. Andrew had a couple of great passes to boot and finished with 18-9-5 - pretty good numbers for your supposed 3rd string center. He keeps that up he's going to be the #1 center for a long time for the Lakers. Other honorable mentions go to Mo Evans (17 points on 8-13 shooting, w/ 3 steals), and Smush Parker (9 points, 7 assists, 6 boards, and 3 steals). Overall simply a surprising and great win for the Lakers- let's see if they can keep it up tomorrow night at Golden State against a physical Warriors team.

The Suns eliminated the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs and the Clippers in the second round with decisive Game 7 victories last May.

Lakers star Kobe Bryant, still recovering from offseason surgery on his right knee, expressed optimism concerning his status for the opener.

"I felt really good today, really, really good," he said Monday. "I was catching lobs in practice and powering up. I am excited. It was a great day today."

"We'll know more after the shootaround tomorrow," Black said regarding Bryant's availability. "We'll have something to say at that stage or it will be a game-time decision."

The Suns expect Bryant to play.

"I'm sure he'll play. I think it would be hard to sit this one out," two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash said.

"My gut says he'll play," Raja Bell said. I'm preparing as if he's playing and we'll see. Whether he plays or not is not my concern."

Bell received a one-game suspension for clotheslining Bryant in the fourth quarter of Game 5 last spring.

"I'm done with all that stuff," Bell said.

With Mihm and Brown sidelined, 19-year-old Andrew Bynum will make his first career start at center for the Lakers.

"A lot of our young guys are stepping up and playing good basketball," Bynum said. "We're going to be deep this year. We've got a lot of home games to start with, so we should go 15-5 at least."

The Lakers play 15 of their first 20 games at home, and a 16th, against the Clippers, is a designated road game.

The Lakers waived swingman Devin Green on Monday to get down to the 15-man roster limit.

Stoudemire pronounced himself ready for the opener.

"I feel great," he said Monday. "Today was another great day, it was better than yesterday, so tomorrow I should feel even better."

Stoudemire will be a reserve at the start of the season, with D'Antoni expecting to play him 15 to 20 minutes a game.

"Whatever coach D'Antoni has in mind, I'm definitely down for it," Stoudemire said. "It's up to him. Once on the court, I'm going to play to the best of my ability."