BRYANT GIVES L.A. A SCARE LAKERS HOLD ON AFTER BRYANT LEAVES GAME WITH SPRAINED ANKLE LAKERS 101, INDIANA 87.

Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer

Just when the Lakers thought Kobe Bryant had turned the corner in coming back from knee surgery, the sight of Bryant clutching his right ankle on the far end of the floor had to spoil Monday night's game.

Bryant went down with a sprained ankle a little more than two minutes into the third quarter and had to leave the game with the Lakers leading the Indiana Pacers by 19 points.

The Lakers were left to fight out a 101-87 victory as the Pacers closed to seven points with three minutes left. Bryant's injury was a reminder of what could ruin not only a homestand but the better part of a season.

Bryant returned to the bench with 7:45 left in the third quarter but did not check back into the game. The Lakers have been cautious about pushing Bryant as he plays his way back from knee surgery at the start of his 11th season.

The Staples Center crowd broke into an unmistakably subdued "MVP" chant while Bryant was helped off the court. Bryant missed 14 games in the 2004-05 season after spraining the same ankle.

Trying to finish the game without Bryant, the Lakers let the Pacers close to 85-75 with 9:21 remaining. Sarunas Jasikevicius knocked down a jumper after a turnover by Lamar Odom to send the Lakers into a timeout.

The Lakers went more than five minutes without scoring in the fourth before Luke Walton found Jordan Farmar cutting for a basket. That pushed the Lakers ahead 87-75 entering the final six minutes.

Jermaine O'Neal hit three consecutive shots over Kwame Brown as Indiana trimmed the Lakers' lead to 90-83 with 3:11 left. But Brown spun around O'Neal and answered with a basket at the other end.

Brown beat O'Neal for another dunk and fouled him out by drawing a charge with 1:55 left. Brown finished with a season-high 17 points and four rebounds. The Lakers outrebounded Indiana 41-28.

It was enough for the Lakers to improve to 12-5 and 10-2 at home.Odom finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out.Bryant had 21 points in the 21 minutes he played.

Bryant was injured with 9:49 left in the third quarter after he tracked down a rebound, then drove and went up around the basket. He tried to throw in a shot across his body and landed on Jeff Foster's foot.

He rolled his right ankle and stayed down on the far end as the Pacers headed the other way. Once play was stopped, Bryant was helped off the court by trainer Gary Vitti and forward Ronny Turiaf.

Maurice Evans replaced Bryant and Lakers coach Phil Jackson opted not to bring back Bryant with the Lakers holding a comfortable 20-point lead.Bryant's status for Wednesday's game against the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets had not been determined.

The comparisons, meanwhile, are there for Brown every time he sets foot on the court with O'Neal, who made the same jump from high school to the NBA. O'Neal was the youngest player in NBA history before Andrew Bynum took the distinction.

O'Neal languished in Portland for four seasons before coming to Indiana and developing into an All-Star. The Lakers privately hoped Brown similarly would come into his own after leaving Washington last summer.

Brown was shaky from the foul line as usual and missed a point-blank basket, but was a force in the first quarter all the same. Matched up against O'Neal, Brown had nine points and two rebounds as the Lakers built a 16-point lead.

Brown threw down two dunks and flipped in a hook shot over O'Neal. He also sent O'Neal to the bench with his second foul with 1:10 left in the quarter by taking a charge on defense.

The Lakers let the Pacers back in the game but scored 11 straight points in the second quarter and went ahead 60-37.

They did so with No. 3 center Turiaf on the floor, as Brown and Bynum picked up their third fouls in succession.

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The Lakers' Kobe Bryant blocks a shot by the Pacers' Stephen Jackson on Monday.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer