ONTARIO, Calif. — The matchup between Warriors swingman Stephen Jackson and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant didn’t produce the extracurricular fireworks some might have expected.

But it did make for some competitive basketball.
Jackson has expressed his lack of fanship for Bryant, saying the Lakers’ superstar plays dirty. His statements added some intrigue to Tuesday night’s exhibition game at the Citizens Business Bank Arena, a 113-107 Lakers victory.
For his teammates, Jackson’s willingness to lock horns with Bryant — arguably the greatest player in the world — showed he’s all in now.
“Jack is the ultimate competitor,” Warriors big man Ronny Turiaf said. “He brings that side out of everybody. Seeing him fired up, that fires me up. That shows you that the guy’s a winner. He has that passion. He has that desire.”
Bryant was the last of the 10 starters to come onto the court. He gave a slap to four of the Warriors’ starter, including a hug for his former teammate Turiaf. Jackson was last. Bryant walked by and patted a stretching Jackson, who returned the gesture. No eye contact.
It’s clear the two aren’t friends.
Bryant, who finished with 21 points, began to play as if he was well aware of Jackson’s comments. He opened the game with a jump shot over Jackson, the first of five consecutive possessions going right at Jackson — three of them post-ups.
Jackson, who finished with 15 points and 10 assists, was physical when Bryant posted him up, reaching and bodying him up. Bryant didn’t score either time he posted, though he drew a foul once. But his jumper was working. All three of his first-quarter baskets were jump shots over Jackson. Bryant had 10 points on 3-for-7 shooting in the quarter.
The matchup did get testy as the game wore on. When on defense, Bryant was clearly focused on locking down Jackson. There was a lot of jockeying for position, slapping hands away and elbows in the back. Jackson, on several occasions, put his hands up in the air or warned the replacement referees about Bryant’s tactics.
Midway through the first quarter, he drove past Bryant. Bryant reached from behind and appeared to foul Jackson, who kept going and found Turiaf for a dunk. Jackson then shot a look at the referees.
But otherwise, Jackson kept his cool, as promised.
With 3:05 left in the quarter, and the Warriors on a break, Jackson tried to get an early post-up on Bryant and was knocked to the ground. Jackson got the call and didn’t react at all.
Jackson wound up with five first-quarter assists and gave the Warriors life after an early 13-point deficit.
The Warriors got as close as 44-42 and trailed by five points at the break. A Jackson 3-pointer put Golden State ahead 65-61 early in the third.
After causing drama for most of training camp with his public trade request, run-in with coach Don Nelson and other various comments, Jackson seemed to lift the Warriors on Tuesday.
“I don’t expect anything less from him,” Warriors guard C.J. Watson said. “Everybody should be that way, not backing down from anybody. If more of us were, we’d be a better team.”
Note: Assistant coach Keith Smart, taking over head coaching duties Tuesday, said Nelson and his family are still struggling with his brother-in-law’s motorcycle accident Sunday. Mark Van Kampen, the brother of Nelson’s wife, Joy, had a leg amputated after the accident. Smart said Nelson has been in and out of the hospital. “When your wife hurts, you hurts,” Smart said. “Joy is hurting really bad.”