Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES

Winning games this early in the season has been somewhat of a struggle for the Lakers without Pau Gasol in the lineup. Take away Andrew Bynum and the task suddenly got that much more difficult.

But not impossible.

The short-handed Lakers, behind the inspired play of Ron Artest, managed to forget their injury woes for at least the time being and beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 114-98, at Staples Center.

Artest took up the some of the slack left by the Lakers’ two absent 7-footers, scoring 19 points, pulling down six rebounds and handing out seven assists. His spirited play came on the heels of TNT analyst Charles Barkley’s criticism of his off-court activities, including his music career. Barkley suggested Artest wouldn’t be focused enough on basketball.

Artest proved otherwise Friday, coming within one point of his season-high in points.

Kobe Bryant took up the rest of the scoring burden, leading all scorers with 41 points. Bryant became the youngest player to score 24,000 when he hit a 13-foot jumper with 4:14 left in the second quarter. He celebrated by shrugging his shoulders while sitting on the bench during a time out.

“What can I say?” Phil Jackson said. “This is a guy who sees a weakness in a team and exploits it. …. Killer instinct, that’s what he had tonight.”

The rest of the Lakers seemed to shrug off the notion they would have trouble without the two big men. DJ Mbenga, who started place of Bynum, scored five points and collected 12 rebounds.

Gasol has not played since straining his right hamstring in practice early last month, missing all six regular-season games. He is not expected to play Sunday against New Orleans.

Bynum suffered a strained right elbow against Houston on Wednesday and sat out Friday. He could see action Sunday.

The Grizzlies were led by Rudy Gay’s 22 points and Zach Randolph’s 21 points and 15 rebounds.

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