Kobe meant no offense to Shaq, his longtime teammate and former rival. He’s just busy doing everything and playing nearly every minute to keep the Lakers in the playoff race.

Bryant had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in his 19th career triple-double, and the Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks 101-81 on Tuesday night in a key game for two teams struggling to get into the Western Conference postseason picture.

With former coach Phil Jackson in attendance for O’Neal’s honors, Bryant put on a virtuoso performance while playing more than 47 minutes. Bryant has rested for just 79 seconds in the past two games, but he’s keeping the Lakers afloat during the latest round of injuries and setbacks in their roller-coaster season.

“I wish I could (have seen it), but this is a huge game for us,” Bryant said of the ceremony for O’Neal, his teammate on three championship teams. “I had to stay back here and get ready for the second half. We talked when I came in at halftime. We stopped and chopped it up for a couple of minutes.”

O’Neal liked what he saw from his courtside seat next to his mother. With the win, Los Angeles moved back into an eighth-place tie in the West with the Utah Jazz (39-36), who hold the tiebreaker edge on the Lakers.

Dwight Howard had 24 points and 12 rebounds while hitting seven fourth-quarter free throws for the Lakers (39-36), who had lost four of six before jumping to a big early lead on Dallas and hanging on to it throughout the second half.

“I’m just happy we played the right way tonight, especially on the defensive end,” Howard said.

Bryant did much of the heavy lifting, but the rest of the Lakers also played well without injured starters Steve Nash and Metta World Peace. Pau Gasol had 14 points and 10 rebounds while guarding Dirk Nowitzki, and Earl Clark contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds while blocking a career-high five shots in a stellar defensive game off the bench.

“We’re desperate, and the players know it,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I didn’t think we had a great game offensively. We missed a lot of easy shots, didn’t get hot, but we were playing so well defensively that we won it that way.”

Dallas (36-38) still has a game in hand on the Lakers and Jazz, but the Mavs’ task just got tougher. Chris Kaman scored 14 points and Nowitzki had just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting for the Mavericks, who had won four of five.

“I thought overall we didn’t play well enough,” Nowitzki said. “They used their length on our scorers. Coming into this building, I think the only way we beat them is if we shoot well from the floor. I didn’t think we were shooting the ball well enough to steal one here.”

After trailing for most of the night, Dallas was down by just seven points when the Mavs began intentionally fouling Howard. Hack-a-Dwight backfired miserably, with Howard going a respectable 7-for-12 while the Lakers made a decisive 16-1 run, holding the Mavericks to just one field goal in the final 4 1/2 minutes.

“It is a hit. It is a game we needed,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “I think everyone is frustrated. I mean, Dirk understands what this stage is about. We have some inexperienced guys that haven’t been here, so this is a valuable learning experience for them, but it has a price.”

Although the Lakers aren’t at full strength, at least they can get some rest at home. After a road-heavy March schedule, the Lakers must leave Los Angeles just once more in the regular season while playing six of their last eight on their home court.

The Lakers retired O’Neal’s No. 34 jersey at halftime, with Lakers luminaries including Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Jamaal Wilkes assembling for the ceremony. The Staples Center crowd loved Shaq, but the fans adored former Jackson, who attended what was likely his first game since walking away from the team in 2011.

Jackson was serenaded with multiple chants of “We want Phil!” during his brief remarks to the crowd, echoing the same chants that filled Staples Center late last year when the Lakers flirted with bringing back the 11-time NBA champion coach before unexpectedly hiring D’Antoni to replace Mike Brown.

The Lakers made an 18-6 run for a 16-point lead late in the first half led by Bryant, who put on a show. After banking in a tremendously difficult 16-footer while getting fouled, he spun and appeared to look directly at Jackson, whose smile didn’t change.

Los Angeles’ 15-point halftime lead dwindled to five before Clark led another rally, and Bryant kept the Lakers ahead in the fourth quarter before Dallas resorted to purposely fouling Howard.

Game notes

Nash is hopeful he’ll return Friday after a bit more rest for his injured hip, while World Peace won’t be back any time soon from surgery on a torn meniscus in his left knee. … Nowitzki got a technical foul for arguing with 4:04 to play while Dallas trailed by seven points.

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Belinelli came up big in the closing minutes, scoring eight points during an 18-4 run that broke a 75-75 tie and sent the Lakers to their ninth loss in 11 games.

He started it by hitting two free throws after getting fouled by Dwight Howard with 6:54 left in the game and wrapped two 3-pointers around a layup by Los Angeles’ Earl Clark, making it 89-79 with 2:27 remaining.

The Lakers have now dropped six straight on the road, and this one came after coach Mike D’Antoni shook up the lineup. He moved forward Pau Gasol to a reserve role and replaced him with Clark, but the slide continued on a night when Kobe Bryant and Howard were mostly nonfactors.

Hinrich hit 9 of 11 shots and nailed three 3-pointers. Belinelli and Nate Robinson (11 points) also hit three, and the Bulls were 9 of 17 overall from long range.

Joakim Noah added 13 rebounds and six blocks after sitting out the final 22 minutes, 53 seconds of Sunday’s loss to Memphis.

Carlos Boozer chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds. Richard Hamilton scored 13, although he shot just 6 of 18. Jimmy Butler, making his second straight start with Luol Deng (sore right hamstring) sidelined, scored 10. And Chicago won this one in regulation after playing three straight overtime games.

Steve Nash led the Lakers with 18 points, but Bryant finished with just 16 on 7-of-22 shooting. That ended a run of 24 games with 20 or more points.

Howard, meanwhile, had just eight points and nine rebounds while picking up five fouls. Clark and Metta World Peace scored 12 apiece, and Gasol added 15 points and 12 rebounds in his new reserve role.

D’Antoni made the switch because he wanted a quicker lineup. Even so, it was an eye-opening move, considering Gasol scored 25 at Toronto on Sunday.

“It isn’t against him, it’s better for us right now,” D’Antoni said before the game. “We’re going to try to work through it and see what we can do. Things do change, things happen, I can’t see the future but we’re ready to go forward.”

Game notes

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said star PG Derrick Rose is “very close” to starting full contact drills in practice, the next step in his recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Could it happen this week? “Yeah — it could,” Thibodeau said. Is it scheduled to happen this week? Thibodeau said, “It could.” He also said Rose will have to go through full-contact drills “for an extended amount of time” and that he won’t be playing after “one or two days of contact.”

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