Lakers still win it without Pau Gasol.

Still no Pau Gasol and were still doing good without him. Man Lakers is going to win it three to five years.  In what was billed as the biggest challenge for the Lakers in the early going, the defending champions answered in resounding fashion, thrashing the Suns 121-102 Thursday at the Staples Center. The Suns did not put up much of a fight, finding themselves down by as many as 27 points. "We just beat them inside of the paint," said Kobe Bryant, who had a game-high 29 points. "We got a lot of easy opportunities."

After missing consecutive games due to a right elbow strain, Lakers center Andrew Bynum seemed as if he didn't miss a beat, tying a season-high 26 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. He also recorded his sixth double-double. The 7-footer used his 40-pound weight advantage over Channing Frye en route to making his first four baskets. "That was the game plan, go inside, do that early and often and that paid off for us," Bynum said. "It wasn't hard getting into a rhythm. I had three good days of practice, treatment." With both teams sitting atop the Western Conference with the best records in the league, this was an important game, but it didn't live up to the hype. With the victory, the Lakers (7-1), who own the longest winning streak in the league at six, now head to Denver to face a tough Nuggets (6-3) team on Friday.

The Suns (8-2) came in riding a four-game winning streak and had a chance to tie the best 10-game start in franchise history (Phoenix went 9-1 in 1980-81). But even more so, the Suns had a chance to add onto their list of impressive victories, already defeating the Celtics and the Heat. Phoenix came in averaging a league-best 112 points, but it was held to its second-lowest scoring output this season. The Suns also shot a season-low 36.5 percent when they came in averaging over 50 percent. "We were a tired team," said Steve Nash, whose team has been in seven cities in the past 10 days. "We came out really flat. We missed a lot of easy shots that we normally knock down. It's been a tough stretch for us and I'm glad it's over." Phoenix was led by Jared Dudley's 14 points. Nash was held to 13 points and five assists, well below his league-leading 12.6 per game.

Amar'e Stoudemire struggled his way to eight points on 2-for-15 shooting and Jason Richardson scored just five points on 2-for-9 from the field. The third quarter proved to be the deciding factor in this game. After a Grant Hill jumper cut the Suns' deficit to 65-55, the Lakers answered with a 15-0 run capped by a beautiful alley-oop from Lamar Odom to Bryant, who flushed it down with a reverse, two-handed dunk to give the Lakers an 80-55 lead with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter. Phoenix did cobble together mini runs, but Los Angeles, who shot 57.6 percent for the game, had an answer every time. "They have a really good team and now with Bynum back, I mean it is just tough matchups all around," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "Like I said, I don't know where their weakness is really. They are going to be a handful for whoever plays them."

Before the game, Suns guard Leandro Barbosa opined that the fast start to the season was because of the return to run-and-gun play. "We're playing our basketball," Barbosa said. "We're speeding up the offense. I think this is the way we like to play, our defense is getting better so when we get the ball we can really fastbreak." But against the Lakers, the Suns had just two fastbreak points. "We just got back, we did a good job communicating with one another," Bryant said. "We had a lot of effort in getting back in transition." While the Lakers were still without Pau Gasol, who has been out since Oct. 10 with a right hamstring injury, Bynum returned and established himself in the post early. He scored 16 of his 26 points in the first half. Like O.J. Mayo and Devin Brown, smaller guards like Richardson continue to struggle against Bryant. Things did get chippy between the two at the end of the first half with Richardson drawing a technical after fouling Bryant. Against the Nuggets, Bryant is expecting a heated competition. "The next game, I'm sure they're going to be a little more aggressive attacking, but I'll just make my adjustments," Bryant said.

The Lakers still got this. They're just messing around. They know that there that good, so they just play good in the beginning and then they just dont care after that. When the whole team is back on track then thats when you'll see the lakers back to dominating teams in the NBA. For the first time this season, the Lakers were searching for answers.

Ron Artest didn't have a solution. Kobe Bryant chalked it up to poor transition defense.

But more than anything, it was a gritty Houston team.

The Rockets took advantage of the Lakers sluggish second half and outhustled the defending champs, winning convincingly, 101-91, at Staples Center Sunday.

"It was a great game for us," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "The whole second half was terrific."

In the second half, Houston (6-4) outscored the Lakers 49-37 and held the Lakers to 33 percent shooting. This after the defending champs were held to franchise-low 23 points in the second half in a 105-79 loss to the Nuggets on Friday.

Houston guard Aaron Brooks had a career-high 33 points on 10-for-22 from the field, including five 3-pointers.

"We got hot," Brooks said. "We just ran around and got the lead."

Bryant had an off night for Lakers (7-3), scoring 18 points on 5-for-20 shooting. He re-aggravated a right groin strain that he suffered last week. Bryant was noticeably limping with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter. With two minutes remaining, Bryant left the game and headed straight to the locker room. After the game, however, he down-played the injury.

"I've felt better," he said. "I'll be alright.

"I had it, I've just been nursing it, playing through it."

The Lakers held a two-point edge at halftime, but the Rockets outscored the Lakers 28-19 in the third period. Houston put the game out of reach to open the fourth, as Houston rookie David Andersen scored Houston's first six points to push their lead to 86-73 while fans booed the home team. The Lakers couldn't get a sustained run going, twice turning the ball over on offensive fouls by Bynum and Odom."We obviously didn't know the scouting report that well on Andersen," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We knew he's a shooter, but we didn't see him play at that level."Andersen was huge off the bench, scoring a career-high 19 points and converting 9-of-13 shots."(Andrew) Bynum didn't want to come out there and that's my job to knock down the shot," he said. "You can't get ahead of yourself, but to come in and get a win speaks for itself especially after the loss in Sacramento."The undersized Rockets outhustled the Lakers and dominated the offensive glass in the fourth quarter. The Lakers were outrebounded 60-38, including 13-6 on the offensive glass.

"That's called beasting the ball," said Artest, who led the Lakers with a season-high 22 points.Before the game, Jackson said the Lakers needed to make a concerted effort to pound the ball inside to Bynum. He noted that was lacking in the loss to Denver. Though Bynum chipped in 21 points and 11 rebounds, Jackson still wasn't happy."He only got two shots in the second half," Jackson said. "He's the most effective scorer we had out there. It's a shame we didn't get it in."After the Lakers escaped with a 103-102 overtime victory in their first meeting back on Nov. 4 at Houston, the Rockets got their revenge. Midway through the third period, the Rockets rallied with a 15-3 run to lead 76-68. The run included a four-point play by Brooks and a Trevor Ariza steal on Bryant, which led to a coast-to-coast dunk. The victory was even sweeter for Ariza, who received a standing ovation from fans when he, along with 19-month old son Tajh, was presented with his championship ring from Bryant and Fisher pregame.

"It was great," he said. "It is nice to know the fans appreciate what I have done here."Before the game, the Los Angeles native clicked the heels of his red Nike shoes and jokingly said: "There's no place like home."Ariza struggled in the game, however. He missed his first nine shots and finished with nine points on 2-for-12 from the field. Despite the offensive outage, Ariza picked up the slack on the defensive end.After Shane Battier picked up four fouls in nine minutes, Ariza was on Bryant most of the game. He had a pretty defensive sequence at one point against Bryant, who gave Ariza a series of fakes only to have his former teammate reject his shot. Bryant recovered the ball, but then Ariza poked the ball free, which led to a Chase Budinger two-handed dunk.

The Lakers were without Gasol (right hamstring) and Luke Walton (back). Though there is no timetable yet for Gasol, Jackson said, "(Gasol) has had five days without soreness. We're hopefully (practicing this week). He did a little bit of shootaround and did more strengthening and rehabbing." Tracy McGrady (left knee) is still day-to-day and there is no timetable for his return, said Adelman pregame.KAREEM SPEAKS:NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar spoke with the media pregame about his being diagnosed with leukemia."I'm in good spirits because I feel good about my future," he said. "I'm not dealing with a death sentence. This condition can be managed. I want to be a positive example, give people hope and hopefully, most importantly, educate them as to what they need to do."