LOS ANGELES – Pau Gasol’s shot caromed off the rim, and, suddenly, Andrew Bynum was pushing past Tim Duncan, snatching the ball out of the air and forcibly flushing it back for an emphatic dunk, a show of aggression in the third quarter that brought a smile to the face of every member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

“When he plays that way,” Lakers guard Derek Fisher said, "it makes us almost impossible to beat."

The San Antonio Spurs have reason to wonder the same, as does the rest of the Western Conference. The Lakers took the court Sunday afternoon with a healthy roster for the first time in a month, with their young franchise center playing better than he has all season, and, well, isn’t this exactly what everyone feared?

The Lakers beat the Spurs 99-85, dismissing their closest challenger in the West so thoroughly that San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich didn’t even bother to summon either Duncan or Tony Parker from the bench in the fourth quarter. Kobe Bryant and Bynum also spent the

LOS ANGELES – Down to three healthy digits on his shooting hand, his evening yet to stretch from court to X-ray machine, Kobe Bryant dug his shoulder into LeBron James' chest, bumped him back then bumped him again. James yielded a sliver of space, and that was all Bryant needed. He spun on his toes, lifted in the air and released a perfect rainbow of a shot that dropped through the net.

On this night, the highlights were few and far between for Bryant, unless you consider herding James into a corral of 7-footers must-see TV. And maybe that was the biggest statement the Los Angeles Lakers made with their 105-88 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bryant shared the floor with James for the first time this season, the reigning MVP versus the current favorite, and if Kobe proved anything it was this: With these Lakers, he doesn't always have to be, well, Kobe.

There was a time not too long ago when Bryant needed the big stage, the marquee matchup, to reassert his greatness. LeBron …

Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard have the Magic off to their best start since 1995.

(NBAE/ Getty)

Hedo Turkoglu was warmly wrapped in a fluffy black terrycloth robe, his name neatly stitched on the right lapel, and, yes, that did appear to be a somewhat odd post-game fashion choice for a 6-foot-10 Turkish NBA star, given the trail of shaking heads and catcalls pooling behind him as he strutted into the locker room.

"Don't hate!" Turkoglu barked at his audience of disbelievers.

High comedy was in the air for the Orlando Magic. They had just beaten the San Antonio Spurs on the road for their 30th victory, a rarified position held at the time by just one other team, and none of the Magic, it seemed, had any desire to leave, even as their bus idled a short distance away in the arena's loading dock.

Keith Bogans had started to needle Courtney Lee about the lack of color in his wardrobe only to have the rookie guard fire back by hanging this nickname on his veteran teammate: "Verbal

SAN ANTONIO – Kobe Bryant channeled his inner Sam Cassell, dancing along the sideline, serving up a healthy plate of huevos grandes moments after he had driven a 3-point dagger into the heart of South Texas. Roger Mason Jr. watched Bryant taunt the crowd. As he turned to walk toward the bench, the newest member of the San Antonio Spurs knew what he wanted.

A chance.

That’s all the Spurs have ever wanted against Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, and what happened next explains why they woke up Thursday morning thinking they still have one. Mason walked back onto the court, caught a pass that wasn’t supposed to go to him, stuck his hip into Derek Fisher and threw in an 18-footer. This time, unlike eight months earlier, the whistle blew.

“We’re fortunate,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after Mason’s three-point play with 10.5 seconds left handed the Lakers just their seventh loss of the season. “What goes around comes around.”

For more than a decade now, it’s been this way between

LOS ANGELES – Byron Scott saw the way the Los Angeles Lakers looked at his young team. Rivals? Hardly. The New Orleans Hornets were the 7-year-old kid brother, full of potential and energy, but still someone who needed to be put to bed early. During each of their two visits to New Orleans, the Lakers had jumped on the Hornets, then done just enough to dismissively fend them off.

“For our psyche, we’ve got to play one of those games where we know we can beat them,” Scott said early Tuesday evening. “I don't think right now they think we can, even though I know in my heart I think we can.”

Scott always believes, and that’s one reason why the Hornets’ psyche is just fine. Another reason: Chris Paul and David West don’t scare easy, either. If the Lakers didn’t know that before, they do now.

Paul totaled 32 points and 15 assists without a single turnover and West matched his career high with 40 points while taking 11 rebounds as the Hornets interrupted the Lakers’ parade to the NBA Finals

LOS ANGELES – The evening ended with Sun Yue launching a 3-pointer, the Los Angeles Lakers sitting atop the NBA and the sellout crowd sending a message to their good friends some 2,600 miles to the east.

Bos-ton sucks! Bos-ton sucks! Bos-ton sucks!

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers owned yet another night, and the Portland Trail Blazers were but bit players in the latest act of greatness. They left their leading scorer, Brandon Roy, at home to nurse his sore hamstring, gave the Lakers a game for one quarter then faded gently into the night. Still, not all was lost for these Baby Blazers.

This time, at least, Greg Oden didn't need crutches to leave the locker room.

Oden did a little more than walk to the bus, scoring 10 points and collecting four rebounds in nearly 35 minutes. Those numbers won't rate him among the top rookies or even among the top rookie Blazers. Everyone knew Rudy Fernandez from the Olympics, but Nicolas Batum? All the lanky French forward did was score 17 points on six

It takes a lot to bump Stephon Marbury off the back page, as the New York Knicks know well by now. He's been shunned by his teammates and coaches, banned from attending games by the franchise paying him $21.9 million this season, and Marbury still dishes assist after assist, slinging near-daily nuggets of comedy and controversy into the waiting hands of New York's press corps.

Charging hard toward a possible upset of the Lakers two weeks ago, the Knicks looked up to see their exiled teammate sitting in a courtside seat, clutching a ticket he had purchased himself. Be happy David Stern. In today's sluggish economy, there's still someone willing to pay top dollar to see your league.

Marbury

But while Starbury has been the gift that keeps on giving for those of us in the media, even we must admit he doesn't deserve a place among the NBA's top stories of 2008. The year was just that good. From the Boston Celtics' return to power to Shaquille O'Neal's trade to Phoenix, this past year's

LOS ANGELES – Pau Gasol stumbled backward, the ball squirted from his hands and, suddenly, Kevin Garnett was pushing past him, tomahawking six months of bad memories into the Los Angeles Lakers' consciousness. Sprawled on the court, looking up at the Boston Celtics once again, had anything changed for Gasol and the Lakers since the NBA Finals?

This time, Gasol said, "I had to make sure I took it to them."

Surprise, surprise, somewhere amongst all that talent beats a heart.

On Thursday, Gasol pushed himself to his feet then pushed back. He attacked the Celtics on three successive possessions, scoring seven points in 80 seconds, outplaying Garnett down the stretch, swatting away a Ray Allen jumper for good measure. When he was done, the Lakers had handed the Celtics just their third loss of the season, snuffing out their franchise-record 19-game winning streak in the process.

Yes, the Lakers grew up a little Thursday. No one more than their Spanish forward.

"That was a really critical