"Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum walked off the court together, dwarfing a narrow hallway as they headed toward the Lakers' locker room.

Their first-round playoff series was over. The Lakers had eliminated New Orleans.

Before they disappeared into a brief postgame meeting, Gasol reached out and rubbed Bynum's head.

If Gasol wasn't giddy, he was close to it, overcoming a wobbly first two games to post better numbers the rest of the series.

His averages in Games 1 and 2 against the Hornets: eight points, 5.5 rebounds.

His averages the last four games: 16.3 points, 7.5 rebounds.

"Not great, obviously, but I'm happy that I was able to bounce back after a slow start," Gasol said. "I think my energy and my contribution was a lot better, as it was supposed to be."

Gasol is still below the 18.8 points and 10.2 rebounds he averaged in the regular season. He'll need to get closer to that in the Western Conference semifinals, matched up against Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki.

There's hope of a return to normalcy. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson saw a little something extra from Gasol in Game 6.

"Just the way he was running and the way he's carrying himself," Jackson said. "You can see the determination that he showed, and I think that was a big difference."

Gasol had 16 points and eight rebounds Thursday in the Lakers' 98-80 victory.

Those first two games? Gasol's teammates have already forgiven him.

"Even Michael Jordan had bad games in the playoffs," forward Ron Artest said."