By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES(AP) -- Until Thursday night, Pau Gasol had made more
appearances this fall on "CSI: Miami" than in the Los Angeles
Lakers' starting lineup.

The Spanish 7-footer finally got back to his day job in a
dynamic season debut that suggested just how good the defending
NBA champions can be when they're whole.

Gasol had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Kobe Bryant scored 21
points while passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the Lakers' career
scoring chart in Los Angeles' 108-93 victory over the Chicago
Bulls.

Ron Artest added 15 points for the Lakers, who finally had their
full starting lineup intact for their ninth victory in 12 games
to start the season. Although key reserve Luke Walton is out
following back surgery, Los Angeles finally can begin building
team chemistry around Bryant and Gasol, the pillars of their
title run last summer.

"Definitely, I missed it a lot," said Gasol, who sat out the
Lakers' first 11 games with a right hamstring injury. "It's so
much fun to play with our guys in front of our crowd. I really
wasn't expecting to be as effective as I was tonight, but my
teammates found me a couple of times and made it easy."

Although Gasol confessed to loving the extra-long timeouts of a
nationally televised game, he appeared fully healthy in his
first appearance since early in the preseason. Gasol scored 10
of the Lakers' first 13 points, moving easily on his injured leg
while playing 34 minutes.

"It feels great. We have our squad now," Bryant said.
"Obviously, we can't wait to get Luke back, but having Pau back
is huge. We didn't miss a beat, either. We have a bunch of guys
that can post. We have the advantage."

Bryant clearly took a back seat to Gasol early on in a 7-for-21
shooting night, but still added nine rebounds and eight assists.
And two days after Bryant posted his 100th career 40-point game,
he reached yet another milestone.

With a free throw in the third quarter, Bryant passed
Abdul-Jabbar (24,276) for second place on the Lakers' career
scoring list, leaving him trailing only Jerry West (25,192).

With 7-footers Andrew Bynum and Gasol in a starting lineup
described by Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro as "really, really
long," the champs had little trouble with the Bulls, opening a
20-point lead in the third quarter before beating them for the
eighth time in nine meetings.

Derrick Rose had 20 points and John Salmons scored all 18 of his
points in the first half for the Bulls, who lost on the second
stop of a taxing six-game road trip.

"Their length is definitely their biggest strength," said Joakim
Noah, who had 12 points and 15 rebounds. "To me, the most
amazing thing about it is you're out there competing hard, and
these guys are hardly breaking a sweat because they're so
comfortable running their offense. They look like it's very
easy."

Before beating Sacramento on Tuesday, the Bulls were 9-56 since
Michael Jordan's departure on the annual fall road trip made
necessary by the circus occupying the United Center around
Thanksgiving. Chicago still must stop in Denver, Portland, Utah
and Milwaukee before getting home in December.

Although Bryant's shot was off early, he scored 11 points in the
second quarter to put Los Angeles up 53-42 at halftime. Rose's
2-for-11 shooting in the first half slowed down the Bulls, who
had won two straight.

"It definitely wasn't the right time (to face the Lakers)," Rose
said. "You've got two 7-footers out there tipping balls to each
other. It's tough. Doesn't matter if it's (Gasol's) first game
or last. He's a great player."

Gasol played in just two preseason games before sitting down
with a hamstring injury that didn't appear to improve much with
rest. He wondered aloud whether his hectic schedule over the
past two years - including a summer with an NBA title run and a
tournament MVP award at the European championships in Poland -
had worn down his body.

Gasol tipped in Andrew Bynum's missed layup on the Lakers' first
possession and hit two free throws the next time down. Gasol got
the ball in the high post on the third possession and fed it to
Bynum down low, illustrating the versatility of the triangle
offense.

"I liked most of the combinations we had out there," Lakers
coach Phil Jackson said. "(Gasol) had a lot of things bounce his
way off that offensive board, and he had some easy shots. I
didn't want to play for that many minutes, but we had got into
some foul trouble, and it became necessary."

Six Lakers scored in double figures, including 12 for Derek
Fisher.

NOTES: Bulls F Taj Gibson worked out with his former teammates
at USC on Wednesday, Del Negro said. The rookie starter had four
points and seven rebounds against the Lakers. ... Lamar Odom and
Chicago's Kirk Hinrich exchanged insults after a hard foul by
Hinrich in the third quarter. Odom needed six stitches in his
right eyebrow after the game. ... California first lady Maria
Shriver attended the game.