With three days off before they last played a game, the Lakers rested, practiced some and got an injured player back.
They showed no signs of rust during a 121-102 blowout of the surprising Phoenix Suns Thursday night at Staples Center.
Andrew Bynum, who had missed the last two games with a sprained right elbow, made his return with a double-double of 26 points on 13-for-18 shooting and 15 rebounds.
Kobe Bryant continued his dominating ways, scoring 29 points on 13-for-21 shooting.
The Suns entered the game with an 8-1 record, but fell to 8-2. The Lakers improved to 7-1 and head to Denver to play the Nuggets Friday night..
The Suns had this high-octane offense that allowed them to score 112.3 points per game, tops in the NBA.
But the Lakers shut the Suns down.
It was the Lakers who had the high-octane offense, building a 27-point lead at one point.
It looked so easy for the Lakers against the Suns in the third quarter.
It seemed like the Lakers could score anytime they wanted.
That's how it looked when the Lakers built a 25-point lead in the third on their way to a 92-71 lead at the end of the quarter.
Jason Powell came off the bench to give the Lakers a big lift in the third, scoring 10 points.
----
The Lakers clamped down on defense in the second quarter against the Suns, just like they did in the first quarter.
The Lakers held the Suns to 21 points in the second quarter in opening a 59-45 half-time lead over Phoenix.
By the half, the Lakers had limited the Suns to 32.7% shooting.
Kobe Bryant had 19 points in the first half.
----
The Lakers were on fire in the first quarter,getting an shot they wanted against the Phoenix Suns defense.
The Lakers made 60.9% of their shots.
Kobe Bryant went to work again in the post, scoring 12 points on five-for-nine shooting. He also had two assists in the first.
Andrew Bynum, back after missing the last two games with a sprained right elbow, had eight points on four-for-six shooting. He also had five rebounds and one assists, a nice pass to Ron Artest.
----
If Lakers Coach Phil Jackson and his team defeats the Phoenix Suns Thursday nigiht, he'll tie Larry Brown for fifth on the NBA's all-time coaching win list with 1,048,851 victories.
But that was the last thing on Jackson's mind before the game.
Alvin Gentry has the Suns back playing an up-tempo brand of basketball.
The Suns lead the NBA in scoring, averaging 112.3 points per game.
The Lakers are averaging 102.7 points per game, but they don't want to get into a running game with the Suns.
The Lakers will run when presented the opportunity, but they'll look to run their triangle offense.
-- Broderick Turner
Photo: The Phoenix Suns' Earl Clark attempts to shoot over Andrew Bynum and Josh Powell yesterday in Los Angeles. Credit: Gus Ruelas / Associated Press.
