LAKERS GET A HAND; HEALED KOBE LOOKS GOOD IN FIRST GAME BACK.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

The most valuable fourth metacarpal in Los Angeles made a triumphant return Wednesday and the player attached to it looked pretty good, too.

Kobe Bryant, his right hand fully healed, finally opened his 1999-2000 season - 15 games and seven weeks later than planned but seemingly no worse for the wait.

Wearing a padded lavender glove, Bryant dipped and juked, dunked and glided with ease and contributed 19 points to the Lakers' otherwise-unintriguing 93-75 rout of the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center.

Some kinks were apparent and Bryant looked predictably overanxious to produce, resulting in a some early airballs. But he fit seamlessly back into the Lakers' offense and finished 7 of 18 from the field.

Not that they needed any extra offense against the Warriors. Shaquille O'Neal, continuing his unmitigated assault on opponents, finished with 28 points, 23 rebounds and four blocked shots in 35 minutes.

Still, no one underestimated the value of Bryant's return.

``You want all your pieces there,'' said Glen Rice. ``You want to go out and see where you're at when you have a full team. Now we're going to have a full team. It's going to take Kobe probably a couple of practices, a couple games to really get into game shape. I'm glad to have him back.''

So were the 17,689 in attendance, who endured a dud of a game. The blowout was cinched by halftime, with a 42-28 lead, and the injury-plagued Warriors - playing without John Starks, Erick Dampier and Chris Mills - never threatened in the second half.

All the better for Bryant to get a rust-shaking session.

He had six points by halftime but sprung to life in the third quarter, dueling Vonteego Cummings. The Warriors rookie faked out Bryant with a nifty crossover dribble but missed his shot; at the other end, Bryant shook off Cummings, then drained an 18-footer over him, then let loose with the smack talk.

Any lingering doubts were erased when Bryant opened the fourth quarter with a rim-rattling right-handed jam, then followed with a 3-point play to extend the Laker lead to 71-48.

Coach Phil Jackson earlier said there were no predetermined time constraints for Bryant - ``just how his conditioning is. I want to see eight minutes of good basketball and assess where he's at after that. . . . Then the second half, see how he figures in winning the game.''

Fans were calling for Bryant as early as the first minute of the game. Jackson wasted no time fulfilling their wish and Bryant wasted no time getting to work.

With 2:54 left in the first quarter, he shed his warmups and walked onto the floor to a standing ovation as he replaced Derek Fisher. Bryant brought the ball upcourt, passed it to Harper on the left wing and broke to the basket in what appeared to be a predetermined play. But Harper's pass to the paint was picked off and Bryant had to wait for his first shot.

He missed on a short fadeaway from the left block but a minute later blew past Cummings and put up a short floater that turned into his first two points of the season.

Bryant's first stint lasted nine minutes, netting four points, three rebounds and two assists. Then the seven weeks of rust and bottled-up energy became apparent. He checked back in almost immediately and played the last 4:43 of the first half, missing 4 of his last 5 shots to finish the half 3 of 10 for six points, with five rebounds.

The electricity he added couldn't be measured.

``I think it's a great opportunity for Kobe to come out - it's spontaneous, it's something we don't have a whole lot of lead time with, it just happened,'' Jackson said, ``and here he is suddenly. I think that's great. It bodes well for us. There's not a lot of buildup. Get it over with and move on through the season. Hopefully find our team in full force.''

Bryant's return

Minutes 30

Points 19

Assists 3

Attempts 30

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box, chart

PHOTO (1 -- color) no caption (Kobe Bryant)

(2 -- color) His hand healthy, Kobe Bryant got back in action at last and scored 19 vs. Golden State.

(3) Most of the attention was on Kobe Bryant, but the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal had another dynamite game: 28 points, 23 rebounds.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

BOX: Bryant's return (see text)

CHART: Game recap