There were moments Tuesday night of pure Kobe Bryant, when he was the most athletic man on the floor, on any floor, and when his creativity and ferocity unhinged every jaw in a town unjaded by two other generations of basketball greatness.

The Lakers beat the Utah Jazz, 112-82, at Staples Center, where Chick Hearn returned to the microphone and Bryant was brilliant, particularly in the third quarter, in the moments after Shaquille O'Neal was ejected.

Bryant scored 22 points. Just 22, of 112.