LOS ANGELES - The Houston Rockets may have gotten even in Game 4, but the Los Angeles Lakers just got mad.

Unlike previous Laker routs, this blowout wasn't fueled by an uber-efficient display of offense (even if most teams would be perfectly content to shoot 51.2 percent from the field). Houston's Game 4 heroes, Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks, combined for just 19 points — or 38 fewer than they managed on Sunday. L.A. also ratcheted up its pressure on the ball, finishing the game with 12 steals and scoring 24 points courtesy of Houston turnovers.

"That was a big focus of ours," the Lakers' Kobe Bryant said. "Brooks did such a terrific job last game getting into the paint, making plays, scoring himself where we had to try and make it a little bit tougher for him."

"We said if we turn it over against this team, we're going to be in trouble," Rockets head coach Rick Adelman said. "And that's exactly what we did."

Even if the Rockets hadn't been quite so generous with the basketball, they were probably going to be in trouble. That's because whenever the going has gotten relatively rough for the Lakers in this postseason, Kobe Bryant has shown up right on cue, determined to single-handedly keep L.A. from back-to-back debacles and on the road to the NBA Finals.

Tuesday was no different ... after the first 2:44, that is.

Houston started Game 5 much like they did Game 4, refusing to display an ounce of quit and making shots from all over the court en route to an 11-4 lead that seemed to suggest that Sunday's performance wasn't merely an adrenaline-fueled fluke.

That's when Bryant took over. L.A. outscored Houston 31-13 over the remainder of the first quarter, fueled in large part by Kobe's 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Bryant's reverse layup with 4:02 left in the quarter gave the Lakers their first lead since the opening minute of the game and his short pull-up jumper 50 seconds later gave them the lead for good. If Bryant's final line — 26 points, four rebounds and four assists — wasn't as impressive as it was in some of his previous rescue efforts, it was only because his presence wasn't required in the game's final 12 minutes.

While Bryant's heroics were largely anticipated, the Lakers also got a much-needed contribution from an unexpected source: Andrew Bynum.

At various times during this postseason, Bynum has admitted to being both physically and mentally unprepared for the rigors of playoff basketball. And his averages of 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds certainly appeared to be ample proof of that.

But while Bynum's play hadn't warranted his inclusion in the Lakers' starting lineup, that roster move was made necessary by Odom's bruised back.

"Well, I just watched Lamar a little bit about how he was moving and his reactions," Jackson said. "Little bit of how he went through the warm-ups and after he got out there on the floor. I felt that he was pretty ginger still. Obviously, we wanted to have that big lineup in there to take advantage of their smaller players that they have right now without Yao on the floor."

Fortunately for L.A., Bynum was up to the task. The 21-year-old scored the Lakers' first six points, slamming home a lob from Gasol, hitting a short bank shot on a nice give-and-go from Bryant and putting back a missed shot.

Bynum would finish the game with a playoff-high 14 points, six rebounds and one big compliment from his teammate.

"Very happy," Bryant said. "He looked energized. He played with the kind of spirit we like to see from Andrew, and hopefully he'll keep it up."

Keeping it up. That'll be the key for L.A. as the series moves back to Houston. The last time the Lakers were there, they had a chance to take a stranglehold on the series, only to choke it away. Now they'll be looking to end it before an anything-can-happen Game 7. As good as the Lakers played Tuesday, they know they'll have to play with even more intensity in Game 6.

"You just got to stay focused and you have to understand that the effort that we did tonight is not going to be enough on Thursday," Bryant said. "It's just not. So you got to pick it up, bring more energy, bring more effort, because that's what the playoffs are about."