It’s Just Another ‘W’

Kobe Bryant was 51 points lighter in the scoring department, but the Lakers survived anyway.

There were no 81-point outbursts -- only 30 points from Bryant this time -- and there was a pregame traffic infraction that made Lamar Odom late, but the Lakers managed to defeat the Golden State Warriors, 106-105, in overtime Friday at Staples Center.

Smush Parker had 17 points and Chris Mihm and Devean George each had 12 as the Lakers avoided a bad loss five days after Bryant’s 81.

Bryant, who had only five points after three quarters and went almost 27 minutes between baskets, made seven of 22 shots and had eight assists, one short of his season-high.

He also made four free throws in the final 1:30 of the fourth quarter, played in-your-jersey defense on Baron Davis to send the game to overtime and scored nine of the Lakers’ 12 points once they got there.

And with that, the Lakers salvaged a game against an undermanned Warrior team that outscored the Lakers in the third quarter, 26-11, and led, 89-80, with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter.

“They almost made me get up and walk out of the building in the third quarter,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “I almost left them alone in a sinking ship. They got it righted. It took them another 10 minutes to get it righted but they got it going.”

Odom showed up 45 minutes before game time instead of the required 90 minutes and had nine points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Odom was late because of “a minor infraction,” he said.

“It happens,” he said. “Leave it at that. Traffic infraction. They’re all the same. There won’t be no jail time served over it.”

Jackson said another person was driving Odom’s car and added “we’ll deal with that [Saturday].”

In the bigger picture, Jackson said Odom was still feeling the effects of a late-game charging call that cost the Lakers in a loss to Sacramento last week.

“I think that depressed him a little bit, and I understand that,” Jackson said. “He just has to rebound from that situation. I think he’s willing to and ready to.”

Bryant, a national staple of sports talk since last Sunday’s effort against the Toronto Raptors, was stuck on five points through three quarters on two-of-12 shooting. The Lakers trailed going into the fourth quarter, 73-66.

“I had a tough night shooting tonight,” Bryant said. “I’ve had others though, where I’ve gone one for 10 or something like that.”

Bryant, who made 28 of 46 shots Sunday against Toronto, made a driving layup with 1:35 left in the first quarter and did not score again until making a running eight-footer with 10:43 left in the fourth quarter.

Making it worse for the Lakers was an apparent inability to jump on a weakened opponent. Jason Richardson, the Warriors’ leading scorer at 22.8 points a game, sat out because of a sore back, and starting small forward Mike Dunleavy left in the second quarter because of a sprained ankle.

But Bryant was strong enough in overtime, making a critical three-pointer from the corner with 2:12 left in the extra session and making all four of his free throws.

The Warriors had a chance to put the Lakers away in regulation, but George drew a charge on Derek Fisher and the Lakers got the ball back with 12.8 seconds left.

Bryant was fouled by Mickael Pietrus after taking a backdoor pass from Odom with 7.1 seconds left. Bryant made both free throws to tie the score at 94-94.

Then Davis, with Bryant all over him, airballed a long fadeaway attempt from the left wing at the buzzer.

Bryant came through in overtime. With 2:12 left, after almost losing the ball out of bounds, he made a three-pointer from the corner to give the Lakers a 99-94 lead. Mihm added a layup after a pass from Parker to give the Lakers a larger cushion.