Kings 114, Lakers 113
March 9th, 2008, 8:15 pm · Post a Comment · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM
LOS ANGELES – The Lakers and Sacramento Kings played Tuesday night and Sacramento coach Reggie Theus said the Kings won 42 of the 48 minutes before faltering late. The Kings outplayed the Lakers for more than that Sunday night — and this time won when Kobe Bryant missed a fading shot at the buzzer.
In the previous meeting Sacramento had allowed Bryant and Pau Gasol each had at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, the first time two Lakers had done that since Bryant’s second-to-last season next to Shaquille O’Neal. This time, Bryant got 26 points and Gasol got 25 points, but the Kings double-teamed both regularly.
On the final possession Bryant was double-teamed by Mikki Moore, helping John Salmons, and Bryant’s 18-foot shot was well contested.
ARTEST’S FIRE
Ron Artest sat out the previous Sacramento game with a sore foot, but this time he started out guarding Bryant – unlike Tuesday night when the teams played – and Artest was clearly more engaged this time. He had the intensity that is a big part of his game – but that spilled over in the third quarter, when he started to lose control.
P.J. EXPERIMENTATION
Bryant had set up a Jordan Farmar 3-pointer, cutting Sacramento’s lead to 41-40, when Phil Jackson rested Bryant and Lamar Odom at the same time for one of the few times. Sacramento went on an 8-0 run. It wound up a 10-5 Sacramento advantage by the time Bryant and Odom returned.
BRYANT GETS ANOTHER
Bryant drew his NBA-high 13th technical foul for complaining after Mikki Moore appeared to hack Bryant on a short third-quarter miss. Bryant faces NBA suspension if he draws his 16th before the end of the regular season.
NEXT
Toronto at Lakers, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, FSN, KLAC/570.
