Ronny Turiaf had just buttoned his shirt after the best game of his brief NBA career when his cell phone rang.
Kobe Bryant couldn't travel to the Lakers' latest victory, but the injured star clearly didn't miss a minute of Turiaf's breakout performance.
“I told you! I told you!” Turiaf said into the phone, breaking into a wide grin. “You're crazy. Thanks for the advice.”
Whatever Bryant has told his teammates while he's sitting out, it's working.
Turiaf had career highs of 23 points and nine rebounds, and Lamar Odom scored 22 points in the Lakers' second victory in two days without the defending league scoring champion, 110-98 over the Golden State Warriors last night in Oakland.
Odom added nine rebounds and nine assists, and Luke Walton scored 15 points as the Lakers followed up their surprising 114-106 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday with a thorough thumping of the Warriors in coach Don Nelson's inauspicious debut.
“We need every win we can get, especially without my man here,” Odom said. “If we can get these wins on the road, it'll help us a ton.”
Bryant stayed home to rest his surgically repaired right knee, and coach Phil Jackson also remained in Los Angeles while he's recovering from hip replacement surgery four weeks ago – but the Lakers' role players and assistant coaches led their 10th win in 11 meetings with Golden State.
Assistant coach Kurt Rambis, who ran the club in Jackson's absence, doesn't know when Bryant will be back in action – but with Turiaf's impressive play and Odom's steady efforts, the Lakers didn't need either.
KNICKS 118, GRIZZLIES 117 (3 OT): Quentin Richardson hit two free throws with 12 seconds left in the third overtime as New York won in Memphis.
SUNS 112, CLIPPERS 104: Shawn Marion had 27 points and 10 rebounds to power host Phoenix
JAZZ 107, ROCKETS 97: Derek Fisher had 13 points and six assists in his Utah debut and led a decisive run down the stretch as the Jazz beat visiting Houston.
HORNETS 91, CELTICS 87: Boston couldn't overcome New Orleans point guard Chris Paul's 20 points and 10 assists – or Peja Stojakovic's two baskets in the final two minutes – as the visiting Hornets won.
BUCKS 105, PISTONS 97: Michael Redd scored 37 points and Charlie Villanueva had 16 points and 12 rebounds in his Milwaukee debut.
CAVALIERS 97, WIZARDS 94: Larry Hughes scored 27 points and LeBron James added 26 to power the host Cavaliers to victory.
TIMBERWOLVES 92, KINGS 83: Mike Bibby made an inspiring return to the Kings after being expected to miss the first two weeks of the season with a thumb injury. But Bibby (16 points, five assists) picked up two technical fouls at a critical juncture of the fourth quarter and Minnesota's Kevin Garnett finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds to lift the host Timberwolves.
76ERS 88, HAWKS 75: Allen Iverson scored 32 points and Andre Iguodala had 15 to lead host Philadelphia.
MAGIC 109, BULLS 94: Dwight Howard had 27 points and 11 rebounds as host Orlando surprised Chicago.
PACERS 106, BOBCATS 99: Jermaine O'Neal and Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 20 points apiece as visiting Indiana pulled away in the fourth quarter.
NETS 102, RAPTORS 92: Jason Kidd had 14 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his 76th career triple-double to lead the host Nets.
TRAIL BLAZERS 110, SUPERSONICS 106: Zach Randolph scored 30 points, and visiting Portland rallied to beat Seattle.
