Denver — It might not happen as often this season, with all the depth and talent that has been stockpiled, but Kobe Bryant will still have to be on call in case the Lakers need to be bailed out.
Neither the Lakers nor Bryant could find their shooting touch through three quarters, but enough of it appeared for Bryant in the fourth to drive the Lakers to a 104-97 victory Saturday over the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center.
To call the victory "ugly" might even be insulting to the word itself, but Bryant's 14 points in the final 6:51 allowed the Lakers to escape a dreadful shooting night in which they made only 37.9% of their attempts.
On one hand, the victory-parade planning can be put on hold for a while after the giddiness that the Lakers' first two victories stirred up. On the other hand, the Lakers (3-0) won a grind-it-out game on the road against a fairly physical Denver front line, forcing the Nuggets to miss 13 of their last 19 shots.
"We need that," said Andrew Bynum, who had only four points while battling foul trouble all night. "Maybe last year, I don't know if we were tough enough mentally and defensively to pull that one out, so it's good to know that we're growing."
Bryant, who finished with 33 points in 33 minutes, missed 10 of 17 shots before heating up shortly after checking into the game with 8:35 to play.
His three-pointer gave the Lakers the lead for good, 89-86, with just under seven minutes to play. Then he made a 17-footer from the left wing to extend the lead to 91-86. Then he began picking apart Denver guard Anthony Carter, driving past him for two layups in the final 3:13 to end the Nuggets' night.
"I was ready to attack," Bryant said. "A lot of nights in the first two games, my teammates really pulled us through those big victories, where I didn't really have to the turn the jets on. But a game like tonight, where we struggled, we shoot 37%, and it was one of those games where we were stuck in the mud, then it's my responsibility to try to get us going."
Coming into the game, the Lakers had won seven in a row against the Nuggets, including a first-round sweep in last season's playoffs.
"We hope it has a carry-over effect," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said before the game.
It didn't in the first half.
Lamar Odom had three fouls in four minutes. Bynum had two points, three fouls and three turnovers.
