Taking care of No. 1

Pau Gasol needed this game, a chance to wash away an 0-12 playoff record from his past.

Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Luke Walton needed it too, an opportunity to push the failures of the last three seasons further back into their psyches.

Above all, the Lakers needed it, the franchise's first victory in a Game 1 since the 2004 Western Conference finals, back when Shaquille O'Neal was still a fixture out here and Kevin Garnett was the man in Minnesota.

The Lakers celebrated their debut as the West's top-seeded team with a 128-114 victory Sunday over the Denver Nuggets. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday at Staples Center.

It wasn't entirely poetic, but it didn't need to be as long as Gasol and Odom kept pounding away on the inside and the Lakers kept finding each other for easy scores, over and over, as if they were playing five on three.

Gasol set the agenda with a 36-point, 16-rebound, eight-assist effort that included seven dunks, five layups and a degree of fulfillment for a player who had never won a playoff game.

Odom was caffeinated throughout the game, crashing the boards and converting numerous attempts around the basket on the way to 17 points and 14 rebounds.

Bryant wasn't great -- 32 points on nine-for-26 shooting -- but greatness wasn't needed from him on a day when Walton came off the bench to collect 16 points and five assists.

It was enough for longtime public-address announcer Lawrence Tanter to intone afterward, "One down and 15 to go."

The playoffs had definitely arrived, a glance at Phil Jackson's hand providing all the evidence necessary. The Lakers' coach was wearing a Lakers 2002 championship ring, although he suggested he was getting tired of it.

"I hate wearing this thing," said Jackson, who typically slips on the ring of his last championship team for the playoffs. "It's been worn now too often. This has been three years in a row now that I've had to wear this."

It's too early to forecast what May or June holds, but there were promising early signs for Lakers followers, including Jack Nicholson high-fiving Sasha Vujacic after the Lakers guard blocked Eduardo Najera's shot to end the second quarter.

Gasol dominated, making 14 of 20 shots, eight of eight free throws and, why not, adding three blocked shots in his 45-minute exhibition. And to think it came against Marcus Camby, the reigning NBA defensive player of the year.