Taking the floor after a thunderous ovation during lineup introductions, Gasol scored his team's first points on a tip-in and then added two free throws, another put-back and a pull-up jumper before getting his first rest midway through the first quarter.

He finished with a team-high 24 points and 13 rebounds on Thursday night, good enough to help the Lakers to a comfortable 108-93 victory over Chicago.

"I really wasn't expecting to be as effective as I was tonight," Gasol said. "I just had fun, took advantage of the opportunities and went to the glass pretty well. My teammates found me a couple times, and my legs felt a little better than I thought."

Conditioning was Gasol's primary concern before the game, yet Jackson left him on the floor for 34 minutes.

Gasol showed nary a hint of pain while but occasionally looked fatigued as he jogged up-court, admitting afterward he was "a little sore" and got winded "pretty quick."

"I was glad we had a nationally televised game because the timeouts were a little longer," he said, smiling.

"I still don't believe I should have lost that much money," he said before Thursday's game.

The league suspended Artest 73 games after he went into the stands in Detroit, costing him approximately $5 million in salary. Artest estimated he lost an additional $2 million in endorsements as a result of the incident.

"I would still like to have a million or something back," Artest said. "I didn't bring no controversy into the stands, the stands brought the controversy to me. So that's what is frustrating for me still to this day. I didn't start it."

Nonetheless, Andrew Bynum is confident Bryant and Gasol will leave enough scraps for him to continue his early scoring surge.

"I may have to be a little more efficient, but I think so," Bynum said. "Whoever gets down there first, that's who eats."

In the nine games Bynum played without Gasol so far this season, he has looked like the all-star he hopes to become, averaging 20.3 points and 11.8 rebounds and producing eight double-doubles.

"I wouldn't expect anyone is going to have the same numbers now that Pau is back," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "Everybody's has to give up something, but the team should gather something from that as an overall factor."

What is a facet rhizotomy? Well, that's a good question.

After a few minutes of Internet research, here's what I can tell you:

Facet joints are small joints located in pairs on the back of the spine that provide stability to the spine and allow the spine to move and be flexible. The goal of a facet rhizotomy is to provide pain relief by "shutting off" the pain signals that the joints send to the brain. The pain relief experienced by most patients who have this procedure lasts months or even years.

Well, after Wednesday's practice Gasol teasingly fired back, defending his acting on the episode and adding "I think most of the population enjoyed it."

Gasol also mimicked Jackson's "acting" in his T-Mobile commercials in which the coach silently holds a cell phone toward the camera. To his credit, Jackson took the ribbing as well as he typically dishes it

"He has to get back at me a little bit, I think," Jackson said, chuckling.

"I don't know about definitely," he said, smiling. "Who knows what could happen so I won't say that. I don't want to jinx it. I'm saying everything felt great and I can't think of any reason why I wouldn't be able to play tomorrow."

Gasol participated in a full practice on Wednesday, pronouncing his strained right hamstring pain-free and fully healed afterward. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he plans to start Gasol and play him roughly 25 minutes against the Bulls.

The biggest concern for Gasol is his conditioning after practicing just twice since sustaining the injury on Oct. 10. Asked if he would call his fitness "OK," he smiled and said, "OK would be generous."

The Lakers had spoken to Gaffney's agent this week upon learning that Luke Walton would miss at least the next six weeks with a pinched nerve in his back.

They don't see the need to add to their already bloated payroll right now, however, instead preferring to either give Adam Morrison Walton's minutes or rotate Kobe Bryant to small forward and play Shannon Brown more frequently at shooting guard.

"We felt like at that position we were a little overloaded," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I'm hoping to get Adam some minutes."

If more injuries arise in the front court and the Lakers aren't comfortable Morrison can handle meaningful minutes, it sounds like Gaffney remains a viable option.

The Lakers liked the 6-foot-8 former UMass star before making him their final cut in training camp, and at the rookie minimum, he would come cheaper than a veteran free agent, even with a $50,000 buyout from his Israeli pro team.

The soreness and stiffness came back last week and got "worse and worse," to the point where he cannot even bend down to tie his shoes anymore.

"The last time they wanted me out longer, but as soon as the back started feeling good I was begging them to let me start playing," Walton said. "I'm going to let them tell me when to play this time because the last time I rushed it a little too quickly."

Of all Kobe Bryant's buckets on Friday night, easily the most memorable came with four minutes to go in the third quarter.

Bryant spun around Ben Gordon and absorbed contact from Kwame Brown, throwing up a twisting, no-look, over-the-shoulder layup that somehow went in.

"It was a lucky shot," Bryant said afterward with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just flicked it up and it went in."

Problem was this was a game Bryant felt he could tip in the Lakers' favor.

Shaking off lingering soreness from the strained right groin that has hampered him for the past week, Bryant consistently punished Detroit for daring to check him with smaller guards and not sending a double-team at him.

Bryant scored all but five of his 40 points in the opening three quarters, helping the Lakers avoid their first three-game losing streak since trading for Pau Gasol with a 106-93 victory.

"We talked today about using my post-up game to our advantage in terms of certain times of the game," Bryant said. "My teammates spaced the floor and I was able to make a lot of reads easier. We were able to go into the post once everyone kind of spaced out."