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What looked like a blowout early became anything but. Still, the Lakers managed to squeeze out a win in Toronto, sending them back to L.A. with a 3-3 record on the Grammy road trip.

Final score, 94-92. Among the topics of conversation...

• A great finish for Kobe Bryant, including a game winner. For Bryant, it was a happy ending for what had, before the final minute, been a horrible run in the fourth. Bryant was the hero, but played a big role in creating the mess to begin with.
• Poor shooting in the second half for Pau Gasol, and low shooting percentages for the Big Three throughout the road trip. What accounts for the saggy numbers?
• Do the Lakers have a coaching problem? A personnel problem? Where is the line between the two?
• What kind of trade needs to be made, and how fast does it need to happen?

All that, plus cats, gratuitous violence, and lessons in makeup application. Enjoy!

The Lakers won, and if my job didn't dictate otherwise, I'd insist we never speak of this game again. But that's not the case, so I'll relive this nonsense, and force you good people to do the same.

Here are five takeaways from the game.

This game shouldn't have required a Kobe Bryant bailout.
And for most of the game, it appeared that brand of hero ball wasn't even in the cards if the situation presented itself. Throughout most of the game, Kobe couldn't get himself going. During the first half, the iron appeared to be protesting his visit to Canada. (Never forget "81," I guess.) Kobe concluded the first quarter with just two points, and his afternoon largely remained as rough. In the beginning, shots he typically drains with ease -- "bunnies," as he often calls them -- just couldn't find the net's bottom. As the fourth quarter turned inexplicably tight, the shots he missed turned increasingly forced, the degree of difficulty high even by his standards. At one point, he missed six consecutive shots down the stretch, and didn't appear to be even mildly interested in moving the ball. He finished with 27 points on 9-for-23 shooting, and it honestly felt like more misses. Save a third-quarter flurry, Kobe looked as frustrated as most fans presumably felt watching him.

However, Bryant did finally find a way to make some magic when the team absolutely, positively, indisputably needed to have it. With 56 seconds remaining, a stand-still triple from the left wing dropped, cutting Toronto's lead down to one. He then stripped Linas Kleiza, then led the break to set up Metta World Peace for a layup. And after Jose Calderon drilled a 17-footer, Kobe stepped up with 4.2 seconds left to put the game away for good. After getting the sideline inbound from MWP, Bryant lost DeMar DeRozan, then hit a 17-footer along the baseline past James Johnson's extended arms.

The entire picture for Kobe wasn't pretty, but bottom line, he came up very big with a W literally on the line. I wouldn't necessarily recommend replicating the path, but for the purposes of today, it is what it is.

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It will be the Lakers' sixth game in about nine-and-a-half days, the last of a long trip, with an early tip time that has never suited them particularly well.

And there are all the reasons the Lakers could struggle Sunday in Toronto. They're external, centering on the context of the game, not the opponent, because the Raptors are a bottom-feeding squad, no question. At 9-19, only five teams have fewer wins, and they'll take the floor without their only high-end talent in Andrea Bargnani. With him, they're bad. Without him, they're borderline unwatchable.

Still, while it's a game the Lakers should win, it's fair to say when it comes to this team, particularly on the road, there may be no such thing. To gain a little more insight into Sunday's game, we reached out to Sam Holako of Raptors Republic.

1. With Bargnani out, where does Toronto's scoring come from?

Holako: The first thing to remember is that with Bargnani out, the Raptors score through sheer attrition, void of much team ball-movement. You'll see a lot of listless passing on the perimeter then someone jacking the ball up with under eight seconds left on the clock. Jose Calderon has been doing his part of hitting outside jumpers and finding guys off the pick-and-roll, and Leandro Barbosa is hit-or-miss as he's always been, but the three-headed hydra of Jerryd Bayless, James Johnson and Linas Kleiza has been carrying much of load, putting up shots at will. DeRozan checks in from time to time with a big game, but they are too few and far between. It's the Raptor effort that keeps us interested as fans, not the offense sans Bargnani.

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Kobe Bryant turned 33 on Tuesday, as good a reason as any to look back at everything The Mamba has accomplished during a HOF career. The K Bros and 710 ESPN's Mark Willard tackle a few questions that, to say the least, offer options for responses.

• Beyond the titles, what is the most impressive aspect of Kobe's career?
• What is your prediction for Kobe's next great achievement?
• What is your favorite moment of Kobe's career?

Check out what we said, then offer your two cents.

As part of a continuing series, NBA players share how growing up in L.A. shaped their game.

For Raptors forward Amir Johnson, who grew up mainly in East L.A., but also Harbor City and Watts, being an athlete came naturally. The game of basketball itself, however, required work, and getting his high school into gear took even more. His freshman year was split at two schools (Pacific Hills, Narbonne), neither of which featured him on the court. From there, he enrolled in Verbum Dei, where he enjoyed a solid inaugural season of high school ball. He then transferred to powerhouse Westchester -- famous for producing, among others Trevor Ariza -- but allegations of recruitment violations resulted in a 2004 postseason ban. Johnson was also forced to sit out his junior year.

That left Johnson making up for lost time during his senior year, but he made the most of it. California's Mr. Basketball. A state title in 2005. And a strong enough showing that, despite still operating at a raw level, he got drafted straight out high school in the second round of the 2005 draft by the Detroit Pistons.

Andy Kamenetzky: Which parks did you play at regularly growing up?

Amir Johnson: I actually played in a church league. It was a Baptist church in Inglewood. My mother and my father [signed me up]. I wasn't really into basketball like that. My first sport was track. I was a good track and fielder and I was really into it. I kind of got into [basketball] a little bit more and more.

AK: I imagine a church league atmosphere is different than a park or a rec center court.

Johnson: I just wanted to play. I just wanted to have fun. I was just a kid, just running around. I didn't really know how to play the game. I was bouncing the ball, then shooting around. It was fun for me.

AK: When did you first start taking it seriously?

Johnson: I was about 12 years old. My father started putting me in a lot of travel leagues. That's when I started learning the game a little bit more. My first travel league team was [with] ARC. That's when I first started getting into it a little more.

AK: Was there anybody on that team who either made it to the pros or played at a high level in college?

Johnson: Mike Mercer. He was pretty good. I think he made it to the pros.(AK's note: Mercer never reached the NBA, but has played in Canada.) Bryce Taylor. He was on the team. There was a couple of other guys, they're overseas now.

We traveled down to Florida. There was a big tournament, I think we made it to fourth place or third place. There were, like, 100 teams.

AK: You sat out your freshman year at Pacific Hills because of academic eligibility issues, correct?

Johnson: I wasn't really academically ineligible at Pacific Hills. It was mainly I transferred schools because of our travel. We couldn't get there because it was so far from where we lived. I was with the JV team back then. I felt like, because I'd been playing travel ball, I was ready for the next level. So I kind of went to a different school after that my ninth grade year.

I finished out my ninth grade year at Narbonne High School and that's when my grades started to go downhill. Then I transferred to Verbum Dei. My grades went up and I finished out my tenth grade year there. I was more focused. There was no distractions. I focused on my grades and my game and it helped a lot.

AK: Could you feel yourself growing as a player at Verbum Dei, even with just one year of high school ball?

Johnson: Absolutely. I guess I had some people come see me play and they thought I had talent. There were coaches that helped me work on my game. It felt like I was getting better and I could get pretty good, so I listened to whatever the coaches had to say and I worked on it.

AK: What kind of player were you at that stage?

Johnson: I knew I could run and jump. That was the only thing. I was just, like, a major athlete. Run the floor. Catch the ball. That's pretty much where I was standing. I had to work on my skills. I had a soft touch, [but] I didn't have no jump shot. I had to work on that stuff. I was definitely an athlete.

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On Jan. 22, 2006, a Sunday game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto Raptors turned into a piece of NBA history. It was a game in which Kobe Bryant -- with the Lakers down 63-49 to their 14-26 guests from Canada -- strapped the supporting cast on his back and told everyone to get out of his way.

The result was 55 second-half points. 28-for-46 from the field. Seven makes from downtown. Just two misses in 20 trips to the line.

By the time he took a final seat to a thunderous ovation, Bryant had scored 81 points, the second-highest single-game total in NBA history. Since that iconic moment, so much has changed regarding Kobe.

He's grown as a player, with a desire to improve that is unmatched by any elite player in the league. He's grown as a leader, having developed the ability to communicate high standards for teammates without alienating them in the process. He's grown as a basketball mind, typically a step or two ahead of the competition mentally. And he's grown as an NBA face, now as popular as he was before scandal derailed his image.

Trust issues still surface -- most recently in a San Antonio loss admittedly too heavy on "takeover," and most famously during Game 7 against Boston -- and the balance between imposing will and empowering teammates will always remain a work in (largely positive) progress. But the changes over the past five seasons have nonetheless been remarkable.

Looking back on Kobe at the time of "81," the most striking change is arguably the teammates surrounding him.

Among those playing for the Lakers in 2006, six are now out of the league. Devean George was a decent role player but erratic, and his championship experience was gained largely as an observer. Devin Green was a nice kid but barely a fringe NBA player. Smush Parker had the makings of a competent backup guard, but an attitude so bad the Miami Heat ate a few million bucks just to get him out of their hair.

Aaron McKie has since retired after an excellent career as a role player, but his two injury-riddled seasons with the Lakers were absolutely worthless. If Chris Mihm hadn't lost a career to injuries, he'd have been a nice backup center, but any good team is pushing its luck with him in the starting five. And even as president of the Slava Medvedenko Fan Club, it's a massive stretch to label the master of unintentional comedy "reliable."

Among those still cashing an NBA check, Brian Cook and Von Wafer re-entered the association this season after getting released by former teams. Both have been journeymen, and the odds favor this trend continuing. Kwame Brown's biggest contribution to the Lakers was a salary closely matching Pau Gasol's, and Brown has yet to prove he can bring much to the table beyond God-given size. Ronny Turiaf and Sasha Vujacic have nice roles with the Knicks and Nets, respectively, but each was deemed expendable as the competition at their position increased.

Of the three remaining Lakers, only Lamar Odom was worthy at the time of a central role on a championship-caliber team, and he's since improved as a player. Andrew Bynum has emerged as an elite-caliber big man, but as a doughy, inexperienced rookie he didn't even remove his warm-ups for "81." Luke Walton had his moments as a starter and reserve over the years, but injuries and the influx of more talented teammates have drastically reduced his minutes each season since the 2008 Finals run.

Forget how much better the Lakers' current starting five is than the group announced by Lawrence Tanter on Jan. 22, 2006. With all hands on deck, Steve Blake, Shannon Brown, Matt Barnes, Odom and either Gasol or Bynum comprise the second unit. I honestly like their odds against the 2006 starting five of Smush-Kobe-2006 Odom-Kwame-Mihm. And if the old-school team won out, you'd assume Bryant was the equalizer. Just as he was forced to be time and time again during that season.

That underscores the biggest reason Kobe's life is different, and for the better.

They say too much of anything is a bad thing, and that can even apply to displays of historic greatness. As incredible a feat as "81" was, the sobering reality is that the majority of those points were required to beat a mediocre foe at home. (This truth certainly wasn't lost on Kobe.) Bryant entered that game with exceedingly little to accomplish as a scorer, yet achieved the seemingly impossible as a survival mechanism. He proved beyond the shadow of any doubt that he could put up staggering points.

And happily for Bryant, the odds of having to prove it again are reassuringly low.

Before the game, I mentioned concerns about a sloppy, unfocused effort from the Lakers as everyone is ready for a trip back to L.A. Didn't take long for this game to move along before my concerns were validated. Am I 100 percent sure thoughts of home were the primary cause for distraction? No, but the timing is certainly suspect. Shannon Brown even told KCAL's John Ireland in his televised postgame interview he was eager "to get back to that great weather."

Is the joke on him or what?

But hey, the Lakers did go home with the W and a 5-1 road clip, right? It's about the final result, not style. Which is nice, because aesthetics were often lacking.

Three good

Bench
Typically speaking, performing outside your own turf can be tough sledding for bench units. Reserves often feed off the energy of a crowd, a task made more difficult on the road with the patrons not on your side. More often than not, the starters will be counted on to provide the biggest push, especially in the final game of a long roadie. But a generally sloppy and careless tone set by the starters -- everyone had their individual moments, but the work in tandem left something to be desired -- prevented any luxury of relying on the first five. Thankfully, they didn't bother trying.

Phil Jackson opted to go five deep down his bench looking for a spark, and wasn't let down for his faith. Fifty-seven points as a collective, and each member of the pine crew continually found ways to make big plays and reestablish separation after a series of unsettling Toronto runs.

Andrew Bynum led all Lakers reserves with 16 points, half of which were accrued at the line. His explosiveness and timing isn't quite back, evidenced by a lack of ability to finish while fouled. But the activity was fantastic. Throw in seven rebounds and this was definitely the best Drew has looked since returning from injury.

Speaking of "best games so far," Luke Walton also enjoyed his best effort of this season. A few wonky passes aside (he probably didn't want to feel left out), it was a well-rounded showing on both sides of the ball. He even made hay twice in transition, the first time taking a rebound coast-to-coast. Without question, the sequences were more a damning indictment of Toronto's transition defense than a sign of Luke discovering his inner Russell Westbrook. But Walton enjoys plays at the same rate of a lunar eclipse, so we'll allow him to drink in the glory.

As for the Killer Bee's, Matt Barnes, Steve Blake and Shannon Brown are core counted on to be catalysts, and all three answered the bell. Fourteen points from Shannon, plus a spectacular block from behind on Leandro Barbosa to wipe out a turnover from Walton. Barnes snagged nine rebounds, indicative of the non-stop energy we've come to expect. The dozen points were also a plus. Blake drained a pair of treys and shook off a sluggish first half to help fuel a second half rally.

Games like these remind you what a luxury it is to have a quality bench, and the Lakers do in fact possess one.

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Come to Toronto for the Ron Artest-themed art exhibits. Stay for the basketball. Here are a few items to keep an eye on once the ball is jumped:

Kobe's pinkie
Another day, another injury to one of Bryant's digits. This time, it's a pinkie, the same one boasting 2009's avulsion fracture heard 'round the world (although the injuries are unrelated). Dave McMenamin reports the diagnosis as a sprain and the X-rays negative. Similar to how the sun always rises in the east, Bryant isn't expected to miss any action as a result of the ailment. That's the good news.

The bad news is, judging by Friday's season-low nine-point performance (3-for-11 shooting), success filling a bucket isn't the same lock. The problem, by the way, isn't limited to Kobe's release. In the past, finger injuries have also hurt his handle, decreasing his ability to create his own shots or whip passes with the usual precision.

How long the effects of this condition linger remains to be seen, but Kobe is as seasoned a pro as the NBA offers when it comes to the art of playing through injury. Even if he never truly "heals" until the offseason, I'm not terribly concerned about this newest ding. In the grand scheme of things, I expect Kobe to be fine. But as we've seen in the past, the immediate adjustment period isn't always pretty. Thus, I'm very curious to see how Bryant treats his first opportunity to road test his new hand.

Will the game be used as an experimental ground, shots rapid-fired as Kobe seeks the best technique under these circumstances? Will he view the injury as a challenge (as I believe has been the case in the past)? The game within the game on the schedule? Will he let others carry the day as spots are picked against an opponent that shouldn't require a Mamba-esque performance for victory?

Whatever route he and the Lakers take, it'll be worth watching, as is always the case.

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Under normal circumstances, I might say four games against teams with a combined record of 34-57 would be a formality. A near-waste of virtual ink, so assured were Lakers wins.

These are not normal circumstances.

The Lakers have been positively ordinary since charging through the first eight games like a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills at Saks Fifth Avenue. Their 9-7 record since the hot start is at best underwhelming, especially considering the nonet includes a grand total of one win against a squad with a winning record (Nov. 23 vs. Chicago), and totally uninspired efforts like their squeaker against the Clippers and the tougher-than-required win over a poor New Jersey team Sunday afternoon.

The giddiness of early November, when some wondered if maybe this whole 70 win thing might actuallyhappen, has given way to questions about whether the Lakers will equal last year's 57. Sunday's victory puts them on pace for 58 -- basically a wash -- and as we've all noted, their schedule has been almost absurdly easy. Only four games (Denver, Utah, and two vs. Chicago) against teams opening Monday's action with a plus-.500 record. For the record, they lost three of those four. It adds up to the the league's easiest slate of games. The Lakers haven't played 20-3 San Antonio or 19-4 Dallas. Or Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Boston, Miami, Orlando or Atlanta.

Big picture, the challenge in front of them is stiff. All sorts of things are in question, not simply the NBA's best record and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The idea that the Lakers would finish the regular season with the top seed in the Western Conference has since this summer generally been treated like a foregone conclusion. Given their current level of play and, more importantly, the brutality of their schedule over the final 58 games, it shouldn't be. In a very competitive league, the Lakers are in danger of letting a great many things slip away, or at the very least, making the process of holding on to said things a whole lot more difficult.

They can't afford to lose much more ground, particularly when matched up against the Association's weak sisters. A nice dovetail to this week's . . .

. . . Little picture, the challenge in front of them is stiff. All sorts of things are in question, most revolving around the team's ability to play with relative consistency for 48 minutes, whether against good, mediocre, or poor competition. "We're not finishing games," Phil Jackson said Sunday. "We're not finishing quarters."

Said Lamar Odom, ""That’s the story of our last 10 or 15 games – having leads and losing it, not playing up to our potential . . . We can play a lot better than what we did today. We got to get through this lackadaisical spell that we’re in right now."

He'll find trouble finding anyone who disagrees. Here's how the next seven days shake out:

GAME OF THE WEEK

Whatever Game In Which Andrew Bynum Finally Makes His Season Debut

In theory, it's supposed to be Tuesday in Washington. Unfortunately, Bynum, who last week expressed a desire to get a few more practices under his belt before engaging in the real thing, made the projection based on schedule including a full court run Saturday afternoon, one the Lakers canceled thanks to bad New York City traffic. A pain-and-complication free workout with his teammates would have removed much of the lingering doubt about the safety of his return. Now, his participation in Tuesday's game seems contingent on how he comes through Monday's practice. Hopefully, the scheduling snafu won't change the timetable, but it wont be totally clear until he's put on the active roster Tuesday night.

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Join the ESPNLA.com staff tonight at 7:30 p.m. PT for a live, in-game chat.

The quest to go 82-0 chugs along.

Game of the week
Sunday vs. Trail Blazers, 6:30
For two seasons, I've been beating Portland's drum as the western squad best positioned to make the Lakers sweat. (Relatively speaking, of course, since I don't think any team in the conference is truly at their level.) 2010 fell short of my expectations, but blame injuries, not mediocrity. The Blazers carved out 50 wins and a Western Conference Semi-Finals appearance despite a honkin' 311 regular games missed due to injury.

This speaks to the squad's enviable depth and collective resolve.

This season, the Blazers are off to a strong 3-0 start, despite the absences of Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla. As a team, they're racking a sound 101.3 ppg while simultaneously boasting the league's 7th best defensive efficiency rating (96.6). That's a nice formula for getting 'er done. Individually, Portland matches up well against the Lakers, between their length and rebounding (LaMarcus Aldridge, Marcus Camby), perimeter defenders (Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews), outside shooting (Batum, Rudy Fernandez) and play-making (Andre Miller). Plus, three-time All-Star Brandon Roy can help in every way mentioned while chipping in 25 points a night.

The Blazers represent the first truly legitimate test the Lakers will face this season: A team widely expected to make a playoff run, and totally unafraid to battle the purple and gold. It should be a terrific game and I wish we could borrow Adam Sandler's magic Tivo remote to get there ASAP. (But without Sandler tagging along, because I find him very annoying.)

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Those were the words of Lamar Odom after Tuesday's 109-107 win over the Raptors at Staples.

They reflected the mood in a Lakers locker room in which nobody was particularly happy with what it took- more Kobe Bryant heroics- to dispatch a middle-of-the-road Eastern Conference team coming into the game with a 10-19 mark south of the Canadian border. The normally gregarious Odom spoke while seated and facing his locker, often in what came off as an angry, occasionally muttering rant.

It was tough to discern every word perfectly, but the meaning each was perfectly clear.

"We’ve got dudes on the Raptors talking (trash)," he said, noting Toronto hasn't exactly arrived as an NBA powerhouse. "But our disposition as a team gives some of these young cats, these dudes, the right. They feel like they got the right. A couple of dudes talking to me today, if I’d have talked to Charles Oakley like one of those dudes like that, I probably would have been smacked in my face."

The smack talk happens because over the season's first 65 games the Lakers played with too little focus, too cavalier an attitude. "It’s given these teams like a quiet confidence, where they think they can beat us," Odom continued. "They start talking and carrying on. Extra animated, even when they come here. I don’t expect that. The respect level, it seems like we’ve got to take it from teams."

"(They're) way too confident against us.”

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Even setting aside his heroics in the final seconds, Tuesday night's 109-107 win over Toronto was a strong game for Kobe Bryant. He finished 11-of-20 from the floor and attacked aggressively, earning 11 foul shots rounding out a 32-point effort. (Six assists and six rebounds amount to more than window dressing, as well.) As was his style earlier in the season, Bryant bypassed longer jumpers -- he only took one triple -- moving his offense toward the basket in one form or another, whether setting up in the post, driving to the rack, or using his patented pull up J.

From the first half to the second, though, the Lakers made an adjustment in how they deployed Kobe in the offense, one I was happy to see.

"I thought he did it a lot in the first half," Phil Jackson said of initiating the offense. "In the first quarter initially he got everybody shots. (Got Derek Fisher) a couple of shots, Ron (Artest) a shot, that kind of stuff. Later in the game, there was an effort to have him moving, not be the perpetrator all the time off the dribble. I thought it would be a little bit better because we'd stay inside of our offense and use the format that we have."

I've long been an advocate of balance in L.A.'s offense and tend to cast a critical eye when Kobe's shot totals are consistently in the high 20's or beyond. These are not state secrets. But rather than a specific number, I try to focus on the types of shots Kobe is taking, how they're set up, and where they come in the flow of the offense. With that in mind, I loved what the Lakers did over the final 24 minutes -- and occasionally in the first half as well. They were successful in rotating the ball to find him down low when post chances were there, and worked Kobe frequently off cuts and screens on the weak side.

Like the Sundance Kid, Kobe is better when he moves.

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Great moment from Tuesday's win over the Raptors: With under two minutes to play, Toronto's Hedo Turkoglu missed a three from the left wing. The long rebound careened towards the sideline, chased by Jose Calderon. He approached the boundary, prepared to leap into the front row in an effort to save the ball and a critical second chance opportunity for the Raptors.

Instead, a courtside fan stood up and knocked the ball away, robbing Calderon of the opportunity.

As ESPN.com's J.A. Adande notes in today's Daily Dime, the helpful fan's name is Lapo Elkann. Turns out he's the grandson of Fiat mogul Gianni Angelli and is apparently a rock star in Italy. Only in L.A. would our Jeffery Maier be a European aristocrat/auto exec once named to Vanity Fair's International Best Dressed list (and according to Wikipedia, their Best Dressed Hall of Fame), is devoted to luxury both personal and global, and who seemed very upset at his actions because Toronto has two Italians on its roster in Marco Belinelli and Andrea Bargnani.

I also very much appreciate how Elkann's Wiki page has already been updated to note last night's events.

We posted our analysis and video here after L.A.'s Kobe Bryant-fueled 109-107 win Tuesday night over Toronto, but were hardly the only ones on duty.

See below for the media roundup:

Dave McMenamin, ESPN Los Angeles.com, on Kobe's unhappy game-winner:
"None." That was Kobe Bryant's assessment of the improvements the Lakers made after he hit his seventh game-winner of the season, evading two Raptors' bodies and four Raptors' arms when he tossed in a 17-foot fadeaway jumper from the baseline with 1.9 seconds left...

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