LOS ANGELES
Reversing last month’s 20-point loss to San Antonio was a daunting thought even before Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum suffered injuries that kept them out of the game.
Improbable perhaps, but impossible no.
With Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest handling the bulk of the scoring and everyone else pulling together on defense, the Lakers managed to hold off the Spurs 101-89, on Monday at Staples Center.
It was announced before the game that Bryant would miss his second consecutive game because of a sprained left ankle and Bynum was out because of a bruised right hip, and suddenly the big game loomed larger.
The rest of the team, however, used a balanced attack to overcome Bryant’s 28-point average and Bynum’s 15.1 points a game to beat another Western Conference foe, two days after defeating Portland.
Gasol lead the Lakers with 21 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists, while Artest added 18 points and Odom 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Shannon Brown, making his first start as a Laker in place of Bryant, scored eight points and handed out three assists, while Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar each had 13 points.
At times in the first half, the Lakers probably wished their two starters would have emerged from the locker room with some miraculous cure. Spurs guard Tony Parker repeatedly drove inside to score 12 of his 20 points in the first quarter.
But the Lakers came out in the second half determined not to let injuries and adversity derail their goal of avenging that 105-85 loss in San Antonio.
They scored eight consecutive points early in the third quarter to take a 58-53 lead they never relinquished.
It didn’t take the Spurs long to exploit the depleted Lakers, scoring the first nine points of the game and holding a 34-28 lead after the first quarter.
The Lakers, led by Odom’s aggressive play, managed to work themselves back into the game at the start of the second quarter. They scored the first seven points to take a 35-24 lead and kept the game close. The Lakers led, 50-47, at the half.
More importantly, they held Parker to just three points in the second quarter and Manu Ginobili scoreless after putting up nine points in the first quarter.
Although Bynum is not expected to play against Utah on Wednesday, Phil Jackson didn’t rule out Bryant from playing.
