The purple-and-gold confetti fell, the fans stood in appreciation, and the 30-point lead the Lakers almost kissed away was all but forgotten.
After all, they recovered in time to clinch the Pacific Division and made the Western Conference race that much more interesting, if that's even still possible these days.
There were an armful of things at stake Friday at Staples Center, and the Lakers took care of them, one at a time, moving down the checklist with amazing speed once they tucked away a 107-104 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.
The Lakers (55-25) moved to within half a game of the first-place Hornets (55-24) and clinched their 19th division championship, their first since 2003-04.
They evened the season series with the Hornets at 2-2 and took a solid lead in the next tiebreaker for the two teams -- conference record. The Lakers are now 35-15 in the West, the Hornets 33-16.
The Lakers have two games left, both at home, against San Antonio and Sacramento. The Hornets play at Sacramento, at home against the Clippers and at Dallas.
It remains to be seen if Kobe Bryant or New Orleans guard Chris Paul can take the MVP award, but the Lakers were nonetheless relieved to eke out the victory, which looked like a breeze until it blew back at them forcefully.
The Lakers took a stunning 63-33 lead on Bryant's 19-footer with 3:53 left in the second quarter, but Peja Stojakovic's three-pointer pulled the Hornets to within 96-95 with 3:57 left to play, turning a celebrating crowd into surprising silence.
The Lakers, however, plowed ahead. Ronny Turiaf made two free throws and Derek Fisher hit a three-pointer from the left corner to put the Lakers back up, 101-95. They never led by fewer than five the rest of the way until Jannero Pargo's three-pointer as time expired.
Bryant finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He made nine of 17 shots. Paul, who battled foul trouble at times, had 15 points, 17 assists and four steals. He made four of 13 shots.
"I think it's great for us in terms of taking significant steps," Bryant said. "This was the first step. We want to take another one on Sunday [against San Antonio]. It just feels good to be No. 1, and that's what we want to get."
Of the two, Bryant had the flashier play, a double-clutch reverse dunk in the fourth quarter that started shortly after he corralled a long rebound. The crowd jumped to its feet, remained standing during a Hornets timeout, and showered Bryant with "M-V-P" chants as the players returned to the court.
