Pau Gasol

What now, Pau? When Andrew Bynum went down because of a torn ligament in his right knee, all eyes turned to Pau Gasol, with reason. The only other big man with a polished post game, Gasol needed to live up to his recent selection on the All-Star team. So far, he has . . . and then some. Gasol had 24 points on pristine 10-for-14 shooting Thursday against the Boston Celtics, helping the Lakers pound out a 110-109 overtime victory. He also had 14 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. "He was huge.

Ready or not, Pau Gasol was back in a familiar position. Andrew Bynum's absence for the next eight to 12 weeks because of a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee made Gasol the obvious candidate to move from power forward to center, where he played 48 games for the Lakers last season after arriving via trade from Memphis.

What All-Star break? Thanks to their success so far this season, the Lakers will have two players and an entire coaching staff in Phoenix for the All-Star game. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson is no longer overtly criticizing the fact that he'll have to spend three days in Phoenix, though he did let slip that he'd arrive for the festivities "as late as possible." Pau Gasol, on the other hand, will get to the desert as early as possible. His brother, Marc, is playing in the rookie-sophomore game Feb.

All-Star votes continue to be tallied, and, no shocker, Kobe Bryant leads the Western Conference. Pau Gasol, however, lags far behind the top West forwards. He was sixth at last glance, trailing Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki and Ron Artest, but comfortably ahead of Bruce Bowen and Shane Battier. "It's tough to get voted in," Gasol said. "You need to get all the fans to make a constant effort to send that vote in."

On Thursday, Lakers forward Pau Gasol will find out whether he has been selected to the Western Conference All-Star team. His coach, Phil Jackson, will be coach the West team, and his teammate, Kobe Bryant, will be on the team as a starter. The West coaches vote for the reserve players in their conference, but they can't vote for a player on their own team. The coaches' votes were due Tuesday and they had to decide on two forwards, two guards, one center and two wild cards.

Pau Gasol couldn't get any shots to fall, so he began filling up another category. Gasol tied a career high with 18 rebounds Sunday against Miami, the second time in the last three games he had hit the same mark. He isn't necessarily known for ferocious rebounding, but he was strong on the boards yet again, getting eight at the offensive end on the way to a three-game total of 47 rebounds in Lamar Odom's absence. "I'm trying to go get it," Gasol said.

Pau Gasol stood before the media Friday night, his hair still damp after a shower, his shoulders slumped, and sighed. "I'm tired," he said. Gasol had just played 49 minutes of an overtime game for the Lakers. It was taxing for Gasol, who once again had led the Lakers in minutes played. His minutes have increased substantially since center Andrew Bynum went down Jan. 31 because of a torn ligament in his right knee, and it has taken a toll on Gasol. He has averaged 42.

Pau Gasol led the Lakers in points but was fifth in shot attempts in a grisly 86-76 loss Sunday to the Atlanta Hawks. Should he have taken more shots on an afternoon when nobody else could shoot straight? "Obviously, our outside shot wasn't going down and maybe we could have probed a little better going inside and see what was going on there," Gasol said. "It was a weird game." Gasol had 21 points in a typically efficient seven-for-10 effort.

Somehow, some way, the "0.4" shot is no longer the most memorable of Derek Fisher's career. In fact, it might be a distant third place. Fisher made two game-turning three-pointers, one in the final minute of regulation and another in the final minute of overtime Thursday as the Lakers held off the Orlando Magic, 99-91, to win Game 4 of the NBA Finals and move to within a victory of the franchise's 15th championship. The Lakers lead the Magic, 3-1, with Game 5 on Sunday, also in Orlando.

They are of like minds -- at least when it comes to the NBA officials. And after a game Friday night in which the replacement referees called six technical fouls and two flagrant fouls, coaches Phil Jackson of the Lakers and George Karl of Denver will be happy to have the veteran officials back. When they learned before the game that the NBA had reached an agreement with its referees, who will begin work Tuesday night when the regular season starts, both coaches uttered similar comments.