Bryant got a bit of a payback today at practice.

Here’s the setup, former Daily News beat man Ross Siler, now covering the Utah Jazz for the Salt Lake Tribune, asked Bryant if he believed Utah’s Deron Williams was in the same tough spot as Bryant was several seasons ago. You know, having to go it solo because of a lackluster supporting cast.

Bryant: “What I’m saying is that he has a little bit better cast than I did. It’s not dire straights for him. But if you’re asking if I feel bad for him? Absolutely not. No way.”

Siler: “So he should just keep his head down?”

Bryant: “Yeah, just continue to play. They have some talented players there. They have a great coach. They’ll be fine. … It’s not even close. They don’t even have Smush Parker on their team. It’s not even close.”

Siler: “You guys never lost to a seven-game Golden State team (as the Jazz did a couple of weeks ago).”

Bryant: “That’s because I had to score 80 or we would have lost to Toronto, man.”

Actually, it was 81, but who’s counting.

Bynum said he wasn’t worried about regaining his spot in the rotation once he returned.

“ It’s cool. It’s cool,” he said. “Because when I come back in, then we’ll all jell. I’ll have to work my way back in and make us all better.”

Around the league though, not everyone is convinced the Lakers are a better team with Bynum than without him. Denver coach George Karl told Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News that he thought the Lakers might actually be more cohesive without their young 7-foot-1 center.

“Don’t you have to make the statement that maybe they’re better without
Bynum?,” Karl said. “Why do we always say Bynum? How many games has he played for this team? I like Bynum. I think he’s a great player. But sometimes you can have too much talent out there and it can kind of be confusing.”

Bryant scored 12 points and added five assists and Pau Gasol had 17 points to lead the Lakers to a 54-40 lead by halftime over the surprisingly feisty Timberwolves. Lamar Odom added 10 points and five rebounds during a sluggish first half. Ryan Gomes led Minnesota with 14 points in the first half, and backup Craig Smith added 11. Minnesota was without Al Jefferson, its leading scorer and rebounder. Jefferson is out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn knee ligament.

“Will there be another Michael Jordan?” he was asked.

“That’s not for me to answer. That’s basically how the consumer responds to that individual. I’ve been blessed, obviously, and to say that someone else won’t be blessed down the road, I’m pretty sure they will. I just can’t pick that person out, unless it’s my kids, which they don’t have to, they’re already a Jordan. I can’t speak for LeBron, and I can’t speak for Kobe. They’re great athletes. I think they’re great people. I think they’ve got a long career ahead of them, but it’s up to them how they’re being received by the community and by the consumer. I’m just happy that I’ve been able to connect and maintain that.”

When asked why the team seemed, in Bryant’s words “edgy” with its recent run of just-good-enough-to-win wins, Bryant said:

“We’ll beat the good teams,” Bryant said. “It’s Boston that’s our barometer. That’s the team that beat us. They’re the standard. They’re the benchmark. That’s the team that beat us, so that’s how it’s going to be.”

Consider the gauntlet thrown down.

Asked if it’s a championship or bust, Bryant said, “I’m cool with that. That’s better than, ‘Damn, I hope we make the playoffs.’ It’s exciting because you have an opportunity to win a championship. Having seen the other side of that, I’d much rather have this situation than the other one.”

The main culprit for the Lakers shaky victories of late has been some rather inconsistent defense. Lately, it tends to come and go on a whim.

How was the defense so good in the first week or two of the year and so unpredictable now?

Bryant attributed that to a lack of practice time during the season, to keep what is a relatively new scheme in tune.

“It’s just not having the time to work on it,” he said. “We had training camp and had a lot of practice days in between games so we had a lot of time to really brush up on it. But as the season goes on you play so many games you kind of lose that a little bit.”

Could the recent menu of sub-.500 teams the Lakers have been served have anything to do with the lack of consistency? In other words, are the Lakers playing down to their competition?

“No, that’s not an excuse. I appreciate it though,” Bryant joked with the questioning reporter. “We want to continue to sharpen the edge. We don’t have slip-ups.”

Bryant needed 15 points going into the game reach the milestone. He is the second-youngest to reach the milestone, having reached it at 30 years, 101 days. The immortal Wilt Chamberlain reached the mark when he was 30 years, 100 days.

Bryant scored 16 points in the first half as the Lakers led the Indiana Pacers, 66-61.

Where does that show up in the box score?

Quite literally, the Lakers just wear people out. In games through November 15, the Lakers outscored their opponents by a league-leading 6.5 points in the fourth quarter and second-best 3.9 points in the third quarter.

In Thursday’s win over Phoenix, the Lakers outscored the Suns 30-23 in the third quarter and played an even 25-25 in the fourth.

The Lakers bench outscored Phoenix’ bench 44-30.

We don’t need it here again. Particularly with the Lakers having their most talented and peaceful team since he departed.

They do not need a spoiled 38-year-old backup center used to – and no doubt still craving – the spotlight.

Thanks for the titles, but the bridges are burned.

Asked after the game whether Gasol gets enough credit for his ability to run the floor, Bryant said: “I don’t know. He’s obviously a great athletic big man that can run and get up and down. He might be the best in the league at doing that. We play pretty well together, ever since he got here it’s been like second nature.”