"Metta World Peace has been accused of a lot of things — wild shots, crazy ramblings, bad dance moves — but after one rousing moment Tuesday, a failure to launch won't be among the criticisms any time soon.

After faking a three-pointer late in the second quarter, World Peace drove past Utah's Derrick Favors and soared for a one-handed dunk that electrified the Staples Center crowd.

It was a symbolic snapshot for the forward who continues to take off as the leader of the Lakers' second unit.

World Peace finished the Lakers' 96-71 victory over the Jazz with 14 points and five rebounds, giving him 33 points in his last two games.

That's his biggest two-game scoring spree since he combined for 33 points against Phoenix and the Clippers late in March. And it came in only his second and third games in his new role as the Lakers' sixth man.

"He's showing the ability to score for us," Lakers Coach Mike Brown said, "which is what we need from him with the bench that we have."

Indeed, a reserve corps that also includes Troy Murphy, Steve Blake, Jason Kapono and Andrew Goudelock isn't one that typically packs much scoring punch. But World Peace said his point total is a secondary concern.

"I had 19 points [Monday] and we lost. Who cares?" World Peace said. "Who cares if you average 30 in the playoffs but lose? This year there's going to be a lot of games where I'll probably have no points or two points but [am] hustling on defense, wasting all my energy on defense and it's going to look bad in the public eye.""