Kobe fills it up for the Lakers

SEATTLE -- These are the new Lakers.

They look a lot like the old Lakers.

Kobe Bryant shot and scored in bunches, and the Lakers defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in overtime, 123-121, Monday at KeyArena.

Bryant had a season-high 48 points on 21-for-44 shooting on the day the franchise found out Andrew Bynum would miss at least eight weeks because of a knee injury.

Bryant’s 18-footer with 4.3 seconds left gave the Lakers their seventh consecutive victory, their longest streak since an 11-game run toward the end of the 2003-04 season. At 26-11, the Lakers are tied with Phoenix for the best record in the Western Conference.

“Tonight was just one of those games where I had to kind of read the mood of the team, and us being a little deflated with Drew going down and being on a back-to-back and coming on the road,” Bryant said. “It was just one of those things where I just wanted to be a little more assertive.”

The victory was practically overshadowed by the news on Bynum, who was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee and a subluxation of his left kneecap -- a brief dislocation that popped back into place. He will not need surgery and there is no ligament damage, although the soft tissue surrounding the kneecap will need a lot of time to heal before he returns.

If Bynum returns in eight weeks, he will have missed 27 games, almost one-third of the regular season.

Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak, who moved quickly from his Staples Center seat into the locker room after Bynum went down Sunday against Memphis, was thankful the news wasn’t more dismal.

“It could have been worse,” he said. “As long as I’ve been around, I’ve seen a lot of knee injuries. You never want a knee injury that alters a career. We’re fortunate that surgery is not needed and we’ll have him return this year.

“It should not affect his development as a player. It won’t affect his career. I’m not happy that he’s out, but I was bracing for the worst. I’m somewhat relieved it’s not worse than it was.”

Bynum was injured when he landed on Lamar Odom’s foot after reaching back for a rebound in the third quarter of the Lakers’ 100-99 victory over Memphis.

The Lakers have 14 players under contract and can add one more if they wish. They have reached out to free agent Chris Webber and might contact P.J. Brown, each of whom are forward-center types who have not played this season.

“We’re going to look at replacement players and if there is a way to get another big player that can help us win games,” Kupchak said. “Can you replace Andrew? Of course not. The list is short on the kind of players that if you picked them up, they would play and help you win, but we’ll look at it.”

Bynum was optimistic after Sunday’s game, privately hoping to be back within two weeks.

Then came the reality of the MRI exam, conducted Monday morning by Dr. Steve Lombardo of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Group. Despite the results, Bynum was more than eager to return, his brother said.

“Eager wouldn’t even be the word,” said Corey Thomas, who accompanied his brother to the MRI exam. “I wish I had a dictionary in front of me right now to find the perfect word. He’ll probably be toothless by the time he comes back from grinding his teeth while watching the games. I do know this -- he’s going to work very hard, twenty-four [hours], seven [days a week] to get back and help this team win.”

The schedule gets tougher for the Lakers, who completed a string of six of seven games against teams with losing records. Up next: Phoenix, Denver, San Antonio, Dallas and Cleveland. Beyond that, a nine-game trip looms at the end of the month.

Along the way, the core big men -- Kwame Brown, Ronny Turiaf and Odom -- will accrue more and more minutes, a prospect that didn’t excite Lakers Coach Phil Jackson.

“This is how the dominoes start to fall on teams,” he said. “Guys get overworked and worn and get in trouble physically.”

The Lakers didn’t look too worn against the SuperSonics (9-28). They fell behind by four in overtime, but Bryant hit a five-foot bank and then a 14-footer with 1:40 left to tie the score at 121-121.

Bryant then put the Lakers up two by scoring over rookie Jeff Green as he drifted to the left side in the final seconds.

Jackson wasn’t surprised Bryant found a rhythm in overtime.

“When you take 44 shots in a ball game, you’re going to get back in rhythm some time,” he said. “It’s like taking a lot of golf strokes -- you’re going to hit a few of them good, right?”

Nick Collison’s 18-foot attempt before the overtime buzzer was off the mark, preserving the Lakers’ victory.

“This was an ugly game, no two ways about it,” Bryant said. “I think it shows a lot of improvement. Last year, I don’t know if we could have won this game.”

Bryant’s previous season-high was 45 points in the season opener against Houston. He was three shots away from tying his career-high for field-goal attempts in a game.

The Lakers had chances to forge ahead with the score tied at 115-115 in the fourth quarter, but Bryant’s three-point attempt rimmed out with 23.9 seconds left and, after Kevin Durant missed a 23-footer, Bryant had the ball punched away by Earl Watson before being able to attempt a shot in the final seconds.

Bryant, coming off consecutive 37-point efforts, came out firing, scoring 12 points on four-for-11 shooting as the Lakers trailed after the first quarter, 29-28. Turiaf had 14 points and Brown had 10 points and 10 rebounds in 39 minutes.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com