The Lakers smothering defense in the fourth quarter and timely shooting helped the team knock out the Detroit Pistons, 103-91—an important victory that should continue the momentum from the Houston victory into this Sunday’s showdown with the Chicago Bulls.

Lamar Odom had his best game of the season for the Lakers, scoring 25 points and pulling down an impressive 15 rebounds. Perhaps, more importantly though, the forward continued to show no ill signs following his comeback from shoulder surgery. The Lakers were fortunate that Odom chose tonight’s game to break out as Kobe Bryant only made six of 18 shots for 19 points, even if his last three field goals did come during a pivotal stretch midway through the fourth quarter where the Lakers took over the game.

As has been the case all season, Jordan Farmar and the second unit excelled once the Lakers starters headed to the bench, igniting the team in the fourth quarter and eventually propelling them to victory. Vladimir Radmanovic, Andrew Bynum and Maurice Evans also played a huge role in tonight’s win with their timely defensive plays and a flurry of momentum-changing layups in the fourth quarter. The STAPLES Center crowd has really seemed to take a liking to the “bench mob,” as dubbed by Odom after the game.

While the Lakers should be pleased with their effort tonight, it was almost in vain as the team gave away a nine point halftime lead to the Chauncey Billupsless Pistons before reclaiming the lead in the fourth. The Bulls will provide a similar test for the Lakers this Sunday in a game filled with intrigue due to the widespread Kobe to Chicago trade speculation a few weeks ago.

Some so-called experts believed the aging Detroit Pistons would surrender their Central Division supremacy to younger, up-and-coming teams this season.

The Pistons are proving them wrong.

Detroit looks to make it three wins in four games on its current West Coast road trip in a matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.

While both the Cleveland Cavaliers, who beat the Pistons in last season's Eastern Conference finals, and the Chicago Bulls have struggled to sub-.500 records, Detroit (6-2) is playing like it's headed for a fourth straight Central Division title and sixth in seven years.

The big four of Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince - in its fourth season playing together - has made the Pistons the East's only team with at least four players averaging 15.0 points.

Detroit, the only Central team with a winning record, has won two of its first three games on its five-game trip out west. After a 102-94 loss in Portland on Tuesday, the Pistons looked fatigued at Golden State on Wednesday night, trailing by 13 at halftime before rallying in the second half for a 111-104 victory.

"With playing last night and tonight, there was a lot of energy expended, but that's all right," said Wallace, who had 22 points and nine rebounds. "Just executing, that's all it was. Wasn't a matter of taking over or anything."

What made the comeback more improbable was that Detroit was playing without two injured starters, Billups and forward Antonio McDyess. Billups twisted his right knee and McDyess aggravated his sprained left shoulder in the loss to the Trail Blazers.

"That was a great win, boy," Billups said. "That was crazy."

The MRIs for both players came back negative Thursday, meaning neither one should be out for very long, though it's unclear if Billups or McDyess will play in this game.

The Pistons have dominated the Lakers since improbably ending the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant dynasty in the 2004 NBA finals in five games.

Detroit has won five of six regular-season meetings since that series - the victories were by an average of 16.2 points - and posted double-digit wins in both meetings last season.

The Lakers (4-3) have been facing speculation since the offseason that Bryant would be traded, but they haven't let the rumors interfere with their play. They've only faced one opponent which currently has a losing record, yet they've come away with impressive victories over Phoenix, Utah and Houston.

Los Angeles built an 18-point lead in the first half and held on to beat the Rockets 93-90 on Wednesday behind Bryant's 30 points. He was held to 18 the previous night in a 107-92 loss at San Antonio.

"It's very good for us to bounce back and come out and play our best," said Bryant, the league's leading scorer with a 28.6 points per game. "We wanted to kick it up (in the second quarter) and I was able to get my game going. My fade-away is my secret weapon. I'm entirely optimistic all the time."

Bryant was held to an average of 18.5 points in two meetings with Detroit last season.

Andrew Bynum was not much of a factor in either of those games but is off to a decent start this season, averaging 9.7 points and 10.0 rebounds in only 23.0 minutes per game. The 20-year-old center has three double-doubles.

"Andrew's a guy that does gobble up those rebounds," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "If there's a ball available, he's going to get it, and I like that."