[0] KOBE GETS BEST OF VINCE IN HEIR WAR LAKERS 97, TORONTO 85.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

Controversy once again imposed itself on the Lakers' landscape, and with it a new threat to their pledges of peace, love and understanding. Only something extraordinary could push a drug suspension and the accompanying distractions to the back burner.

It so happened that extraordinary was on the schedule Wednesday night. That's a fair description, anyway, of the continuing rivalry/highlight show that is Kobe Bryant vs. Vince Carter.

As the Lakers figured out what to do with Isaiah Rider after he was suspended by the NBA for violating the league's drug policy, the dueling heirs to Michael Jordan put on a great show, albeit a flawed one. Kobe and Vince matched each other dunk for dunk and jumper for jumper, and nearly miss for miss. In the end, Bryant won the war, a 97-85 Lakers victory over Carter's Toronto Raptors at Staples Center.

Bryant finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes. Carter finished with 28 points. Neither one exactly tore up the nets. Bryant went 11 for 34 from the field, Carter 10 for 25.

With Bryant carrying the team in the second half, Shaquille O'Neal got a well-deserved break. He finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, all in 31 minutes, and sat the final 14:27 of the game.

For two-plus quarters, Bryant hardly appeared up to the task of guarding Carter or matching him in the points column. That all changed midway through the third quarter.

Bryant, 2 for 14 at the time, hit a running jumper and converted the 3-point play. It cut the Raptors' lead to 58-55 and seemed to restore Bryant's rhythm. He scored the Lakers' last 10 points of the quarter, including a flying two-handed jam off a Brian Shaw lob.

Bryant went 7 for 16 in the quarter, getting 17 points, five rebounds and bragging rights over Carter once more. The Lakers took a 79-67 lead into the fourth and the Raptors never threatened again.

But Bryant wasn't finished. He scored 10 quick points in the fourth as the Lakers expanded the lead to 18 points and made anything else Carter did irrelevant.

That the Lakers could thrive in the midst of controversy shouldn't come as a surprise. They've been balancing wins and turmoil for several years now. But coach Phil Jackson was at least a little concerned.

Asked how his team copes with distraction, Jackson said, ``Not good.''

``But I don't think this one will be a problem for them,'' he added. ``This team has not been as mature about it and kept their own personal discipline regardless of other people's indiscretions.''

But in the Lakers' spectrum - where the ever-tenuous Shaq-Kobe relationship dominates the palette - the matter of an 18-minute role player getting suspended hardly registers.

No one much seemed to notice Isaiah Rider's absence or fret much about it. To the contrary, the hole in the rotation opened more minutes for Tyronn Lue, Devean George and Mike Penberthy.

Of greater concern is the distraction caused by Bryant's sore ankles. For the second straight night, Bryant started a game 1 for 7 from the field. By halftime, he was 1 for 10, with just 2 points and had been thoroughly outplayed by Carter, who scored the Raptors' first seven points and finished the half with 15 on 5-of-13 shooting.

Although Bryant says the ankles aren't a problem on the court, the pain has been difficult to sleep through, and that alone is wearing on him. Still, coach Phil Jackson is wondering whether Bryant might be better off resting. ``It doesn't seem to affect him as much playing as it does post-playing and we were concerned,'' he said. ``We're waiting to see how long this takes to heal, and there may be a time there where we're just going to have to say we're going to have to back off and let it heal on its own, just so he can be strong and pain-free going into the last run here before the playoffs.''

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Photo: (color) The Lakers' Horace Grant passes the ball as he slams into Toronto's Alvin Williams. L.A. enjoyed a relatively easy victory at Staples Center.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer