Bryant, team focus on momentum

Kobe Bryant didn’t exactly have to pick up the pieces after scoring 43 points Sunday night.

There are other streaks for him and the Lakers to contemplate, if not continue.

Moving along on a season-high five-game winning streak, the Lakers play the league’s worst team, Memphis, tonight at Staples Center, where Bryant could extend a five-game streak of 40 or more points now that his 50-point string is history.

He is more than halfway to his consecutive nine-game outburst of 40-plus points in the 2002-03 season. Or, as Coach Phil Jackson noted with a smile Monday morning, “There are still things going on, right?”

(And if Bryant is still interested in chasing Wilt Chamberlain in a slightly lesser category than 50-point sprees, Chamberlain had 40 or more points in 14 consecutive games in the 1961-62 season. Chamberlain accomplished that feat twice that season.)

Bryant, whose scoring average has risen from 29.2 to 31 points over the last five games, laughed it off when asked what it was like to be told he scored “only” 43 points Sunday against Golden State.

“It’s funny,” he said. “People are fans and having a good time with that. As long as it’s followed by, ‘The Lakers win another one,’ it’s all good.”

Bryant was seven points away from extending his 50-point streak, which brought up another question: Where did some of the points go?

He shot 45.5% against Golden State, a drop from the 54.3% he shot during his four-game binge. He didn’t get to the free-throw line as often as he had been, making nine of 11 attempts against the Warriors after averaging 15 attempts during his 50-point spree.

He and his teammates were also more reckless with the ball, finishing with 26 turnovers, including seven by Bryant, five by Lamar Odom and five by Kwame Brown. So many wasted possessions meant fewer opportunities for Bryant to score.

In reality, though, 43 points are 43 points.

And the Lakers, with their next four games at home, have a chance to replicate the momentum of their 11-3 run a year ago at the end of the regular season.

“Now when we match up against teams, they understand that they’re going to have to deal with the issue of me being aggressive,” Bryant said. “It’s going to compromise their defense somewhat. So now we can move the ball, now we have open spaces to operate, we have got rebounding opportunities.”

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Vladimir Radmanovic began shooting flat-footed Monday at practice, his first on-court activity since sustaining a separated right shoulder while snowboarding during the All-Star break more than five weeks ago.

He also attempted a handful of free throws and said he hoped to return with three or four games left in the regular season, which would be about two weeks from now.

Radmanovic got off to a slow start this season because of a sprained ligament in his right hand, an injury that is no longer a concern for him.

“That’s the only good thing about my [shoulder] injury -- I had time to get some rest,” he said.

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Jackson is practically a shoo-in to be selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame when the nominees are unveiled Monday.... Sunday marked the 81st time Bryant scored 40 or more points in a regular-season game, but only the second of those games in which he had no assists, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

TONIGHT

vs. Memphis, 7:30, FSN West

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 570; 1330.

Records -- Lakers 38-32; Grizzlies 17-54.

Record vs. Grizzlies -- 2-1.

Update -- Kobe Bryant had 60 points in the Lakers’ 121-119 victory over the Grizzlies on Thursday. The Grizzlies have the league’s second-worst defense, giving up almost 107 points a game.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com