Kobe-less Lakers knock off Suns in season opener

Bryant, who missed the game with soreness in his surgically repaired right knee, was all smiles in the second and third quarters when the Lakers erased all of a 15-point deficit and turned it into an eight-point edge.

New Laker Maurice Evans had 17 points and Luke Walton donated 11 points for Los Angeles, which has knocked off Phoenix two straight times in the regular season after losing seven straight in the series.

The Suns rallied from a 3-1 deficit to stun the Lakers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs last season.

Leandro Barbosa led Phoenix with 30 points, Shawn Marion added 16 points and Steve Nash had his typical complete night with 15 points and 13 assists in the loss.

The Suns shot 51.9 percent from the floor, made 13 three-pointers and converted 13-of-17 from the charity stripe, but again failed to show improvement in two troubling areas from last season — team defense and turnovers.

Phoenix turned the ball over 21 times and allowed the Lakers to shoot 55.4 percent for the game.

"Good offense leads to good defense," Odom said of forcing 21 turnovers. "That’s what we practice. That’s what we preach."

The Lakers slowly inched closer after narrowing the gap by the half, finally seizing the lead, 59-58, on Walton’s layup that capped a quick 6-0 spurt out of the locker room.

A 16-2 burst later in the stanza opened a double-digit lead for Los Angeles. Odom started it all with a three-point play, Bynum made two deft post moves for easy buckets while Evans and Jordan Farmar also chipped in during the stretch.

Los Angeles led 87-79 after three stanzas.

Phoenix kept firing — and missing — in the fourth as the Lakers maintained the status quo from the previous period. Barbosa’s three-pointer with 1:29 remaining cut the deficit to 110-103, but Bynum hit a contested short jumper with just over one minute left to push the edge back to nine and end any hope of a comeback.

The Suns were flying high in the opening quarter, pouring in 41 points to take a 15-point edge. Phoenix used a 12-2 burst during the midst of the onslaught to seize a 30-14 advantage. Four different players scored for the Suns with Amare Stoudemire’s hook shot capping the stretch.

Another quick spurt — this one a 7-0 stretch capped by Barbosa’s rain-making three — gave the Suns a 39-20 advantage in the waning stages of the quarter.

The second stanza began to shift the momentum toward the Lakers. A stiffer defensive effort and a 10-4 burst to close the half brought the Lakers within 58-53. Evans had two buckets and Bynum converted a three-point play — a sign of things to come — during the half-ending stretch.

Game Notes

The Lakers held a 43-29 edge on the boards...Bryant will not play Wednesday in Golden State...Phoenix has dropped seven of its last eight season openers...The Lakers have won four straight season-opening games.