By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
STATS Senior Writer

Memphis (1-4) at Los Angeles (4-1), 10:30 p.m. EDT

Pau Gasol doesn't expect to make his season debut for the Los
Angeles Lakers on Friday night. That's definitely good news for
his former team as it tries to slow down Kobe Bryant.

It's unlikely Gasol will play against the Memphis Grizzlies, who
have lost three straight as they get ready to visit Bryant and
the Lakers.

Gasol has yet to see action due to a right hamstring injury,
although it seems he is close to coming back. He averaged 16.0
points and 9.0 rebounds in last season's four-game sweep of
Memphis (1-4), where he played his first six-plus seasons.

Coach Phil Jackson expects the 7-footer to practice this weekend
and possibly play even though Gasol believes he is not ready
yet.

"We'll have a limited practice as it is, with back-to-back
games," Jackson said. "There won't be a whole lot of activity,
but he should be out there."

Los Angeles (4-1) has been forced to rely even more on Bryant in
Gasol's absence and the NBA's leading scorer has delivered.
Bryant has sandwiched 41-point games around a 31-point effort,
and has helped deliver back-to-back overtime wins on the road.

Bryant scored the Lakers' final four points, including the
go-ahead jumper, in a 101-98 win at Oklahoma City on Tuesday.
Los Angeles was forced to go past regulation again Wednesday as
Bryant scored six points in overtime of a 103-102 win over
Houston.

"Experience was the key," forward Lamar Odom said. "We toughed
it out at the end. Kobe took over the game and really helped us
spread the court."

The Lakers may have suffered a blow when center Andrew Bynum
sprained his elbow late in Wednesday's game. His status is
uncertain for Friday.

"The elbow (stinks)," Bynum said. "I can hardly lift it up.
We'll take pictures and we will see what they say. They took a
whack at me and that was that."

Pau Gasol's brother, Marc, has played well in his second season
for Memphis, averaging 17.6 points on 60.4 percent shooting and
12.6 rebounds. But he and the rest of the Grizzlies have been
overshadowed by Allen Iverson's complaints about his reserve
role.

Iverson was not happy about seeing 18 minutes off the bench in
his Memphis debut Monday in an overtime loss at Sacramento. He
scored 18 points in 27 minutes Wednesday in a 113-105 loss at
Golden State.

Memphis, 0-3 on a five-game road trip, is allowing a league-high
115.2 points per game.

"Not a lot of players like to play defense (but) winning teams
play defense," Iverson said. "Some nights you're not going to be
able to throw a rock in the ocean but if you still play defense
you give yourself a chance to win."

Iverson is likely not seeing major minutes at shooting guard
because Memphis is building around leading scorer O.J. Mayo, who
is averaging 20.6 points after leading all rookies with an 18.5
average in 2008-09.

The Grizzlies lost their first 13 road games against the Lakers
before winning five of the last nine.