Lakers forward Pau Gasol has worked off some of the rust he accumulated after a six-week layoff because of a foot injury.

In his last five games, Gasol has averaged 14.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and five assists while shooting 54.8% from the field.

The Lakers have won four of those five contests.

"We're using him the right way," Kobe Bryant said of Gasol. "We're using his strengths in terms of his ability to facilitate and his ability to shoot the ball.  Pau doesn't really even want to score the ball, really -- he likes getting other guys involved.  We're putting him at the elbow.  We're slipping him out on screens.  When he has a shot he's taking it and when he doesn't, he's getting other guys involved and it's working very well for him."

The Gasol/Bryant two-man game has been a big part of L.A.'s offensive charge.

"You can't stop it. You can't guard it," said Bryant. "You just hope we miss. There's really no reasonable way you can defend that."

With Gasol setting the screen, Bryant can create a shot for himself or look to pass.

"It's a huge, huge threat," he said. "Then you have Dwight [Howard] ducking in on the inside and you put Jody Meeks in the corner and you just hope we miss."