Vladimir Radmanovic slipped behind a pack of defenders a few minutes into the Lakers’ game Sunday night against the Toronto Raptors. Kobe Bryant lobbed a pass to him and he leaped to catch the ball and dunk it in one crowd-pleasing movement.Yes, it would be that kind of night for the Lakers.

Even the normally earth-bound Radmanovic, better known for his fine perimeter shooting, would throw down a thunderous dunk during the Lakers’ all-too-predictable 112-99 victory over Toronto at Staples Center.

The Lakers raced toward the basket again and again, dunking repeatedly against the Raptors’ porous defense en route to their seventh consecutive victory and their 14th win in 15 games to start the season.

The best start in team history is 16-1, set in 2001-02, and it could be eclipsed during the Lakers’ three-game trip this week to play Indiana, Philadelphia and Washington. Not one of the three teams had a .500 record as of Sunday.

Pau Gasol scored 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting and added nine rebounds to lead the Lakers past the Raptors. Kobe Bryant had 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting and added a season-high seven assists. Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Neither Gasol nor Bryant played in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers’ lead swelled to as many as 20 points. Bynum was the only starter to play in the fourth. The Lakers trailed only once, at 23-21, with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter.

Certain games, you have to put your foot on the throttle and let the other team know it’s going to be a long night for them,” Bryant said.

“You kind of pick your spots, which I’m able to do with this team, as opposed to the past, where you’d start the game and have to have your foot on the gas for 48 minutes.”

Radmanovic finished with nine points, one of a number of role players who made it impossible for the Raptors to keep pace with the Lakers. Anthony Parker scored 19 points to lead Toronto (8-8), and Andrea Bargnani had 14.

“We expect to win every night, that’s how good of a team we are, that’s how good we want to be and have to be,” Gasol said. “We have great expectations and great ambition, so we’re going out there to win every night.”

Bryant went into Sunday’s game needing 38 points to reach 22,000 for his career. If he scored 38 or more against Toronto, he would have become the youngest player in league history to reach the milestone at 30 years, 99 days.

Wilt Chamberlain scored 22,000 points when he was 30 years, 100 days.

On a quiet Sunday evening almost three years ago, Bryant dropped 81 points on the Raptors, the second-highest scoring total in league history behind Chamberlain’s staggering 100-point outburst in March 1963.

Bryant never came close to hitting 81 on this Sunday against the Raptors, but he had 38 in his sights as the first half wound to a close. He had 21 points by halftime, making 8 of 11 shots and all five of his free throws to guide the Lakers to a 61-51 lead.

If there has been one asterisk affixed to the Lakers’ blazing 14-1 start, it’s that just four of those games have come away from the comforts of the Staples Center.

That’s what passes for angst in what’s has become one of the breeziest starts in Lakers history.

But like most issues that have come up for what used to be one of the NBA’s most dramatically-bent teams, this one should come to a quick resolution, or solution, as the Lakers leave town for a three-game road trip with stops in Indiana (tonight), Philadelphia on Wednesday and Washington on Friday.

“An outsider might say they had all their games at home, but we say we’re taking care of business at home,” Lakers forward Lamar Odom said. “(Going on the road) won’t be different for us. We’ll come out and do the same thing, try and play a defensive game at first, make teams uncomfortable and try to wear them down.”

Last week, Lakers owner Jerry Buss suggested that the true measure of this year’s team would come when it plays the best teams in the Eastern Conference on the road.

These next three teams don’t exactly fit the criteria. Coming into tonight’s game, the Pacers, Sixers and Wizards were a combined 15-32.

Nevertheless, Lakers coach Phil Jackson warned about being overconfident.

“The tempo of the game changes (on the road),” Jackson said. “There is more control and we have to be more concerned about things. We have to be more concerned about controlling

the game with fewer turnovers, less fouls and for less opportunities for our opponents to win.”Last season, the Lakers tied Orlando with the second-best road record in the league (27-14). Boston (31-10) had the best road mark.

“We were a pretty good road team last year,” Kobe Bryant said. “We feel pretty confident about going into other teams arenas and winning games. We just focused on doing what we have to do.”

Who says it’s a contract year?: Odom is averaging a career-low 7.5 field goal attempts this year in a career-low 25 minutes a game in his new role as the Lakers’ sixth man. But after taking just three shots in 29 minutes in Sunday’s win over the Raptors, Odom said that was less about playing time and more about the way the Lakers have been sharing the ball this season.

“The game is called basketball, not shoot,” he said. “You can play a complete basketball game without shooting a lot of shots. There aren’t too many guys that can do it, I just happen to be one of them.”

Odom finished with three points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals in Sunday’s game.

Fisher weighs in on Marbury mess: As president of the NBA Players Association Derek Fisher has been keeping an eye on the growing debacle swirling around the Knicks and embattled guard Stephon Marbury.

The two parties met in New York on Monday to try and discuss a resolution to the quickly degenerating situation.

The Knicks had deactivated Marbury in the early part of the season, but required him to attend all team activities. Late last week the team suspended him without pay for one game for refusing to play in two games earlier in the week. Marbury disputes that allegation.

Now he’s being told to just stay away from the team indefinitely.

“It’s just a bad situation. It’s a no-win situation,” Fisher said. “I think the main thing is just that teams don’t take advantage of the employee-employer relationship, that they don’t try to pile on with fines and suspensions.

“I think the best thing for all sides is for there to be some resolution. What exactly that is, I won’t know that until I’m briefed on how the meetings go. But I think that’s the best thing for all parties involved.

“They’ve got to figure something out so everyone can move on.”