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The Lakers are looking pretty good right now. Two nights after knocking the Suns back on their heels with a 128-107 pounding, the Lakers again dominated the Phoenix squad with an efficient 124-111 performance en route to their eighth straight postseason victory.

Although the Lakers have amassed an impressive 10-2 playoff record so far, you’d be forgiven for not believing that this coolly effective Lakers team was the same bunch that struggled to a 2-2 series start against the young and athletic Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. Those Lakers looked old and weary compared with the fresh young legs of Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Thunder. And none of the Lakers looked older and creakier than 31-year-old Kobe Bryant (who turns 32 in August), who was so hobbled that he failed to reach the charity stripe in Game 3 and only attempted two free throws in Game 4 after averaging 7.4 attempts per game during the regular season.

Since then, Kobe has averaged more than eight trips to the free throw line per game with no fewer than seven attempts until Wednesday (only two attempts) when the Suns had to respect his drives so much that he was able to morph into “Kobe-Nash” and dish out 13 assists. Oh yeah, and during that same period –– which coincided with the Lakers run of victories –– Kobe posted six straight games of at least 30 points while averaging better than 50 percent from the field.

Credit Phil Jackson and his coaching staff and credit the Lakers themselves for making adjustments and righting their floundering ship after those first two games in Oklahoma City. But don’t forget to also credit the procedure to drain excess fluid from Kobe’s arthritic right knee.

That little operation wasn’t public knowledge until the L.A. Times ran a story on it leading up to the Lakers-Suns series. And we still don’t even know exactly when it happened –– Lakers coach Phil Jackson only admitted that it happened “some time ago” when asked after his team’s Game 1 victory over the Suns. But one ESPN source says that it was drained prior to Game 5 of the OKC series, which puts it smack dab in the center of Kobe’s –– and the Laker’s –– magical turnaround.

So Kobe’s knee draining procedure, which was such a cause for concern among Lakers fans, has instead caused No. 24 to rediscover some of the speed and mobility that has made him among the most feared players in the NBA. Kind of makes you wonder what this mysterious cure is all about, doesn’t it?

Actually, the procedure itself is ridiculously simple. The clinical term is knee joint aspiration, which basically means that a physician jabs a 1-inch needle attached to a syringe about 1 to 1/4 inches into the affected joint and then sucks out excess fluid, as many times as necessary. You can even see it happen on YouTube, although it’s probably best not to watch it while eating. Massaging the joint during the procedure is supposed to hurt but also push out more fluid. Afterwards, patients are encouraged to rest, something that Kobe was able to do plenty of during the week off in between facing the Jazz and the Suns.

All in all, draining fluid from a balky knee does not seem like a terribly fun procedure. But there’s no question that Kobe would do it again in a heartbeat if losing a little extra knee juice will translate into the Lakers winning the championship.