Grimacing throughout the game after dislocating the ring finger on his shooting hand early in the first quarter, Bryant found the strength to make the plays the Lakers needed to avoid a third straight loss. He scored 20 points with 12 assists and outplayed LeBron James in the second half, leading the Lakers to Monday's 105-88 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in a battle of teams with the best records in their respective conferences.

Bryant played most of the night with his ring finger and pinkie taped together after he caught his finger on the ball trying to wrest it from James less than two minutes into the game. X-rays didn't reveal any damage, and he doesn't expect to miss any playing time, but that didn't mean he wasn't hurting afterward.

"I was scared; I thought I was done, to be honest with you," Bryant said. "It felt like I had two fingers in one. It was disgusting."

If back-to-back losses against San Antonio and Orlando created a heightened sense of urgency, then perhaps the Lakers (32-8) should find a way to tap into that mind-set more often. Whether it was Pau Gasol's newfound physicality in the post, Bryant fighting through screens to get a hand in James' face, or Sasha Vujacic pumping his fist after making a jumper, the Lakers expended every last shred of energy to avoid losing to Cleveland (31-8) for a sixth straight time.

"We played like we're supposed to play every single night," said Vujacic (14 points). "We have to play like that every night and give every team a message: When they come to LA, it's not going to be easy."

The latest chapter of the Kobe-LeBron rivalry didn't come any closer to resolving the "who's better" debate, but it at least provided enough mano-a-mano moments to satisfy the Staples Center crowd. Unlike previous matchups in which Bryant and James guarded other players to conserve energy, they shadowed each other from baseline to baseline Monday, while maintaining a running dialogue.

Though Bryant winced frequently and scored only five first-half points on 2-for-5 shooting, he helped the Lakers transform a one-point halftime deficit into a double-digit third-quarter lead once he adjusted to shooting with two fingers taped. His most memorable sequence began with a corner three to stretch the lead to 12, followed by pair of high-difficulty baseline shots that James was helpless to defend.

"For a while we thought he was going to be just a playmaker, but the second half he started feeling like he could shoot it," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

Providing an additional spark for the Lakers were big men Gasol (22 points) and Andrew Bynum (14), who took advantage of the absence of Cleveland 7-footer Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Vujacic also emerged as a catalyst off the bench, burying three first-half threes to help the Lakers remain in striking distance.

James scored eight of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs never got any closer than seven. A Derek Fisher 23-footer sparked a 12-1 Lakers run to seal the win.

Bryant embraced James afterward, and later explained why he wanted the challenge of guarding him.

"If he was going to have a big night, I'll sleep much better if it was done on me," Bryant said.