No Kobe? No problem

The Lakers learned they would be without Kobe Bryant for the first two games of the season, maybe longer, and shrugged collectively.

No problem. No time to grieve. Nothing to do but try to out-gun the Phoenix Suns, the team that devastated them in the playoffs last season.

So they went out and did just that, surprisingly, perhaps stunningly, in a 114-106 victory Tuesday at Staples Center.

Without Bryant and their two starting centers from last season -- Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm -- the Lakers leaned on Lamar Odom and 19-year-old Andrew Bynum.

And for the first time in recent memory, perhaps ever, the four-letter word chanted in the final minute at Staples Center was “Odom,” not “Kobe.”

Beset by a tumultuous off-season that included the death of his infant son and a harrowing robbery at gunpoint, Odom tied his career-high 34 points to go with 14 rebounds and six assists. Bynum, still 357 days from leaving his teenage years behind, looked poised and primed in the post, scoring a career-best 18 points on seven-for-11 shooting and taking a career-best nine rebounds.

Lakers over the Suns? A strong start to the season after an unsettling, injury-laden exhibition season, to say the least.

“Certainly I’m surprised,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “You don’t know what to expect. These [younger] players don’t have any history as far as NBA games. Lamar, who does have a penchant for scoring, took the load on for himself and played outside the normal role he normally plays and became a scorer.”

Still sore from mid-July arthroscopic surgery, Bryant will also miss tonight’s game at Golden State. Traditionally known as a quick healer, Bryant is midway through his 16th week since the procedure, which was originally labeled as a recovery period of eight to 12 weeks.

The surgery that keeps slicing into the Lakers probably cost them about 35 points Tuesday, assuming Bryant would have been up to approaching his scoring average last season.

“Kobe could have got 60 tonight,” Suns Coach Mike D’Antoni said, only half joking.

Then again, the Lakers did just fine without him.

Odom, in particular, met the moment, making 12 of 24 shots, including three of four from three-point range. He acknowledged getting emotional after making a three-pointer that put the Lakers ahead, 110-98, with 2:22 to play.

“Hopefully time will heal that wound,” he said, referring to the death of his son, Jayden. “Basketball will help.”

The Lakers lost to the Suns in the first round of last season’s playoffs, becoming only the eighth team in league history to fumble a 3-1 series lead.

Bryant was nearly jubilant after Monday’s practice, all but saying he would play Tuesday after dunking four or five times in Monday’s scrimmage.

He even woke up feeling fine Tuesday, but, after arriving at the Lakers’ training facility, realized he could bend his knee only slightly.

“The scar tissue,” he said. “That’s the most frustrating thing -- scar tissue has a mind of its own. It’s tough to try to rush it. We treat and do everything that we could do to get the scar tissue released.”

Bryant hoped he would play Friday against Seattle -- “I’m just an optimistic person by nature, so hopefully I’ll be ready to go,” he said -- although he won’t be pushed to do so.

Like Bryant, Jackson will miss tonight’s game in Golden State, still feeling uncomfortable enough from hip-replacement surgery to want to avoid an hour-long flight to Oakland. He will, however, coach Friday’s home game against Seattle and said he hoped to be strong enough to travel for Sunday’s game in Seattle.

Bryant, as if to demonstrate his traditional optimism, took the microphone before the game and addressed the crowd by saying the Lakers were “ready to begin our journey through the West for a title.”

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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LAKERS’ RECENT SEASON OPENERS

2006-07 -- Lakers 114, Phoenix 106...at Staples Center

2005-06 -- Lakers 99, Denver 97 (OT)...at Pepsi Center, Denver

2004-05 -- Lakers 89, Denver 78...at Staples Center

2003-04 -- Lakers 109, Dallas 93...at Staples Center

2002-03 -- San Antonio 87, Lakers 82...at Staples Center

2001-02 -- Lakers 98, Portland 87...at Staples Center

2000-01 -- Lakers 96, Portland 86...at Rose Garden, Portland, Ore.

1999-2000 -- Lakers 91, Utah 84...at Delta Center, Salt Lake City