LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Kobe Bryant's regular-season debut at Staples Center was uneventful - unlike his offseason.
Bryant scored 21 points and Shaquille O'Neal added 17 and 14 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers cruised to an 87-72 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Bryant received a warm greeting from the crowd at Staples Center when he was introduced following a summer that featured sexual assault accusations and a feud with O'Neal. He missed the season opener here as he recovered from offseason knee surgery but returned at Phoenix on Saturday.
"Playing at Staples Center makes me feel more comfortable," he said. "My knee feels good, very good. It's doing surprisingly well. Just doing our job, just punching the clock and see how it all shakes out."
"It feels like a regular game, don't seem like nothing else," Los Angeles point guard Gary Payton said. "Kobe came out and did what he's supposed to do. He hit shots, went to the basket aggressively and that's what we need. He took over for us."
After scoring 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting in his season debut, Bryant made 7-of-12 from the floor, including 2-of-3 3-pointers, and all five of his free throws against the Warriors. He collected five steals and four assists.
"I played stronger with more confidence tonight in my legs," he said. "I knew it felt strong at the beginning of the game. I knew what I could do. Last night, was kind of a test to see what type of moves I could make offensively and defensively, so tonight I played with more confidence."
"I think Kobe's finding a pretty good stride," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "He's still (catching) up as far as the speed of the game, the right passes to make, and some other things. His energy seems to be a lot better than it was a week ago."
Karl Malone scored 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and Devean George made 6-of-9 shots en route to 12 points for the Lakers, who have won their first three games by an average of nearly 12 points.
Erick Dampier grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds and scored 14 points for Golden State, which lost its road opener after going 14-27 away from home last season.
Clifford Robinson scored 19 points and Calbert Cheaney 17 as the Warriors played their third straight game without Jason Richardson, who served the final game of his suspension for a domestic assault conviction in the offseason.
Golden State's Mike Dunleavy Jr., who had career highs of 32 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday, was limited to 10 points and seven rebounds. He made just 4-of-18 shots, including 2-of-9 3-pointers.
The Warriors are also without injured starters Nick Van Exel and Troy Murphy and did not threaten the Lakers, who never trailed after the first quarter.
"(Los Angeles) is a veteran team that knows how to win basketball games," Robinson said. "When their shot was not going, they did a good job of defending. I think, for us having some young guys, we didn't understand that shots are not always going to go."
Golden State had its only lead after Calbert Cheaney opened the scoring with a jumper, but Los Angeles responded with eight consecutive points and never looked back. The Lakers had a 24-19 lead after the first quarter as Bryant scored seven points.
Los Angeles led by double figures the entire third quarter and took its largest lead at 49-32 on a fast-break dunk by Bryant with 9:25 left.
The Warriors pulled within seven twice in the fourth, but the Lakers scored 11 of the game's final 16 points, highlighted by five from O'Neal.
"We cut it down to seven points, but it just got away from us," Cheaney said. "I do not think we played as hard down the stretch as we needed to to get the win. We're not in the business of trying to keep games close."
