LAKERS CAN SPOT A NUGGET OF HOPE L.A. SEES BLOWOUT AS START OF RESURGENCE LAKERS 112, DENVER 93.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

DENVER - In better days, the Lakers would crush a lousy team by 20 points and shrug, and afterward Shaquille O'Neal would peer up from his locker, look into the cameras and testily remind everyone that this is simply what his team is supposed to do.

Once upon a time, these things were all so routine.

But the Lakers never know which side of the rout they will be on these days, they've already lost to several of the league's worst teams, and all old assumptions have long been rendered moot.

And O'Neal doesn't really bother with interviews anymore, so there's no telling how he felt about the Lakers' not-exactly routine 112-93 victory Saturday over the Denver Nuggets.

It was a win, a relatively easy one and one that the Lakers hope will mark the start of their long climb back to respectability. So they took it for that, and nothing more.

``We just pile it in and move on,'' said Kobe Bryant, who led the Lakers with 39 points in 35 minutes. ``Nobody's really jumping up and down.''

Brian Shaw had to pause for 10 seconds and chuckle before even trying to interpret the value of the victory.

``Ummm, hey, we won by a double-digit margin, haven't done that in a while,'' he said, finally. ``And a chance to get two in a row, which is our largest winning streak of the year, before we get five days off. So we can take that, use that as motivation.''

A victory tonight against the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center would indeed match the Lakers' longest winning streak and send them into the new year with hope. They will be off until Saturday, and the January schedule is remarkably light.

They can only hope to replicate some of the deft playmaking and timely shooting they discovered Saturday at the Pepsi Center.

Bryant, despite a sprained right wrist, followed one of his worst shooting games with one of his best, going 15 for 26 from the field, 7 for 7 from the line. O'Neal added 22 points and 13 rebounds, and the Lakers shot a season-high .584 while leading wire to wire.

Derek Fisher picked up eight points to go with a season-high nine assists.

The victory was just the Lakers' third in nine games, so they couldn't spend much time pondering the composition of the opponent. The Nuggets, who lost their ninth consecutive game, looked like a team just promoted from the NBDL.

Two lightly regarded rookies started in the backcourt - Vincent Yarbrough playing alongside Junior Harrington, whose last stop was Division II Wingate. Two other rookies - lottery picks Nene Hilario and Nikoloz Tskitishvili - also played big minutes. Denver's only significant player is the notoriously overpaid Juwan Howard, who led the team with 20 points.

The Nuggets are even coached by a rookie - Jeff Bzdelik, who has yet to be recognized by anyone outside of the Bzdelik household.

So it was little surprise when the Lakers built an 18-point lead in the first quarter.

They made their first 10 field-goal attempts, collected assists on their first 12 baskets and were a picture of near perfection. They finished the first quarter having made 14 of 18 shots and led 31-18.

Bryant made all nine of his shots in the quarter and personally outscored the Nuggets 19-18.

The only rough patch was a span from the second to third quarters, when the Lakers committed a series of turnovers and the Nuggets outscored them 25-11, cutting the deficit to three points.

But the Lakers recovered well, behind a 16-point third quarter by Bryant, and they cruised to the finish.

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

(color) Lakers guard Kobe Bryant drives around Denver forward Vincent Yarbrough.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Box:

(1) GAME RECAP

(2) LAKERS vs. TORONTO

- Howard Beck