Lamar Odom was doing the same thing as the kids at home who had forgotten their Christmas gifts in a corner and were drawn to stand in the glare of their TVs, imagining they were Kobe Bryant.
Odom was not in the game at the height of the excitement but was on his feet near the Lakers bench, boyish exuberance spilling everywhere. Odom moved his body in the rhythm he was seeing from Bryant, complete with the imaginary dribbling. Bryant left bells ringing and children singing Thursday in what was the first Christmas game and unquestionably the biggest regular-season NBA game in which Pau Gasol has played.
It was quite a stage for Bryant and Gasol to showcase the current Lakers co-starring connection, especially considering this is the holiday Bryant has worked the past 10 years because of the world's perception that he had insufficient goodwill toward fellow or former teammate Shaquille O'Neal.
Bryant hit all three shots he took in the fourth quarter -- including one falling out of bounds on the right sideline over two defenders from 18 feet away. But it was his three consecutive assists -- all to Gasol -- starting with 2:48 to play in a tie game that were crucial in the victory.
Well before that came Bryant's halftime reminder that Gasol, who acknowledged he was "down" because Boston's Kevin Garnett was outplaying him, is "one of the best in the world," and he should stop overthinking and just play his game in the second half.
"We needed him to step up," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of Gasol.
Gasol was already playing much better when Garnett hit a long jumper over him for a 79-79 tie. Gasol then tried to post up Garnett but lost the ball to him and had to watch Garnett dunk at the other end for an 81-79 Boston lead.
It was after that play that Bryant hit his fading jumper with 3:37 left to tie the score. (By the way, Bostonians, hear this from Bryant, who made 13 of 23 shots: "I'm a better shooter now than I was in the Finals.")
Then came three Bryant passes for three Gasol baskets for an 88-83 lead. At the ensuing timeout, Gasol approached Bryant, who cocked his head to the side and opened his eyes as if to say, "See what you can do?"
"Him and KG," Bryant said later. "Two best forwards in the game."
Bryant laid the groundwork for this in the past two games, ordering Gasol to keep the ball, attack and score on a crucial possession in Memphis and then seeing Gasol play the most complete game of anyone the next night in New Orleans. About those late passes to Gasol on Thursday, Bryant said: "I always look for him. That's my guy."
In the afterglow of the victory, Sasha Vujacic spoke about how people had viewed the Lakers as "softies" from the way Boston blasted them in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. And no one can look limper out there than the lean, not-always-mean Gasol.
Then Gasol, to use his own words, "took it to 'em" in the second half Thursday.
It won't mean much as his daughter's joyous exclamation upon receiving the gift she had forgotten to put on her letter to Santa Claus, but reading this might warm Bryant's heart a little, too.
After Gasol talked about Bryant having "a lot of trust and confidence in me" and how "I respect that a lot and I appreciate it a lot," here's the interesting, accurate and even moving way Gasol described Bryant's Christmas gift to him: "He gave me more strength."
The Lakers' Kobe Bryant (24), who scored 27 points, drives around Boston's Ray Allen.
kding@ocregister.com
