Kobe, Lakers go cold as Kings snap eight-game skid

SACRAMENTO, Calif (AP)-- Francisco Garcia and John Salmons scored 21 points apiece, and the Sacramento Kings snapped an eight-game losing streak with a surprising 113-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Bobby Jackson added 15 points for the Kings, whose first victory in nine home games was one of the NBA's most improbable results of the young season. Sacramento (6-16), which had lost 11 of its last 12 games overall, steadily increased a fourth-quarter lead against the Lakers, who couldn't rally while Kobe Bryant struggled with 9-of-25 shooting.

Bryant scored 28 points and Pau Gasol had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who had won three straight while opening the season 17-2, matching the best start in franchise history.

With a home visit from Shaquille O'Neal's Phoenix Suns looming on Wednesday night, the Lakers might have overlooked the lowly Kings. Bryant missed 11 of his first 13 shots against Salmons' defense, and the reigning league MVP couldn't rally the Lakers as he's done so many times at Arco Arena, the site of some of his greatest performances.

Playing without injured leading scorer Kevin Martin, Sacramento took a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter and scored eight straight points to go up 97-82 with 9½ minutes to play. The Kings led by 17 with 6½ minutes left, increasing the lead even after Bryant returned, and Beno Udrih's layup with 3:17 left put Sacramento ahead 110-92.

With Lakers starters Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum and Vladimir Radmanovic shooting a combined 9-for-22, Bryant's struggles were magnified. Lamar Odom had just 11 points and eight rebounds in a reserve role.

Brad Miller scored 13 points and Udrih added 12 for the Kings, who avoided the longest home skid in 51 years for a franchise that began life as the Rochester Royals.

Sacramento had the NBA's most formidable home-court advantage earlier in the decade when Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic ruled Arco Arena and its noise-reflecting wooden bleachers, but the Kings had fallen several thousand fans short of filling the building in every game this season until the Lakers' many fans filled most of the empty seats Tuesday night. Arco still wasn't sold out, but the Kings got more push from the crowd than the visitors.

Martin missed the game with an injured left ankle after aggravating the problem during Sacramento's humiliating 33-point home loss to Denver last Wednesday. The Kings don't know when Martin will return, but he already has missed 13 games this season with ankle problems.

Garcia filled in well, scoring 14 points in the first half and coming up with a handful of big baskets in the second half.

The Kings played with fresh legs after five days off, and Garcia scored 14 points in the first half as Sacramento took an early 11-point lead. After 2-of-9 shooting in the first half and four straight misses to open the third quarter, Bryant got going -- but Salmons also heated up with 12 points in the third quarter to keep the Kings up 87-80 heading into the fourth.

Game notes
The teams meet again at Staples Center on Friday night. ... Former Kings assistant coach Pete Carril attended the game, sitting near the Sacramento bench. ... San Francisco 49ers linebackers Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes also were in the crowd.

LAKERS-KINGS PREVIEW

by Mike Trudell, Lakers.com

Sam Amick, Kings beat writer for the Sacramento Bee, joined us to detail the 5-16 Kings, losers of eight straight games. Amick explains what’s troubling the Kings, talks about the emergence of youngsters Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson and figures out the Beno Udrih looks kind of like Paul Rudd...and himself.

Click here to read more of Sam Amick over at Sacbee.com

Lakers - Kings Preview

For a Sacramento Kings team riding its longest losing streak in nearly a decade, playing the red-hot Los Angeles Lakers twice in the next four days isn't the best way to break the slump.

The Kings will try to avoid a franchise-record ninth consecutive home loss on Tuesday night as they face a Lakers squad off to its best start in 23 years.

Sacramento (5-16) lost 118-85 to Denver on Saturday night to drop its eighth straight home game, and eighth in a row overall.

It was the Kings' worst home defeat since a 133-93 loss to Houston on Dec. 12, 1995.

Sacramento, which hasn't won at Arco Arena since a 115-98 victory over Golden State on Nov. 9, previously had lost eight straight home games twice in franchise history - most recently from Nov. 24-Dec. 19, 1993.

"Would you let someone go into your house, smack your wife around, make a sandwich and change the channel on your TV?" forward Mikki Moore said. "We're disgusted with ourselves."

They have every reason to be. Facing the Nuggets, the Kings hit 29.3 percent (29-of-99) from the field in their worst shooting effort since making 28.2 percent in a 95-66 loss to Detroit on Dec. 1, 1996. Leading scorer Kevin Martin missed nine of 11 shots against Denver and scored eight points before leaving in the third quarter with a sore ankle, though he is expected to play Tuesday.

Playing the Lakers on Tuesday, as well as on Friday in Los Angeles, doesn't expect to provide much relief for Martin and the Kings.

The Lakers (17-2) have won their last four visits to Arco Arena and have matched the franchise's best record through 19 games, also achieved in 1985-86 en route to a 19-2 start. They are holding opponents to 43.0 percent field goal shooting to rank among the league's best.

Sacramento is among the league's worst, allowing opponents to shoot 48.2 percent. The Kings are ranked 28th in the NBA in points allowed at 105.7 per game, while the Lakers are the league's highest-scoring team, averaging 108.4 points.

During their eight-game slide, the Kings have allowed five teams to score more than 115 points.

"There is no excuse for being physically handled," said coach Reggie Theus, whose Kings are riding their longest losing streak since dropping 12 straight from March 9-April 3, 1998. "Every time we play a team that is physical and has went after us we have backed off or backed up."

The Lakers have been the team doing the bullying lately, even when they're not playing their best. Despite a season-high 25 turnovers, Los Angeles won its third straight and 10th in 11 games with a 105-92 victory over Milwaukee on Sunday.

"It was an awkward game tonight," coach Phil Jackson said. "Offensively we were very ragged. Our timing was off and we tried to do too much. A lot of guys tried to do things that we shouldn't have been doing and forced the action."

Kobe Bryant, who had 20 points and a season-best eight assists against the Bucks, had a team-high 24 points to lead eight Lakers in double figures in a 118-108 victory over the Kings on Nov. 23.

In his last six games in Sacramento, Bryant is averaging 36.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists.

Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

GAME NOTES
NOTES & CONNECTIONS

The Lakers currently lead their season series with Sacramento 1-0 after winning their 2007-08 season series with Sacramento 3-1 for the second consecutive season. The two franchises have met 267 times overall and 102 times since the Kings moved to Sacramento. The Lakers lead the all-time series with the Kings 182- 85 (73-29 vs. Sacramento). In their last 10 meetings, the Lakers are 8-2 against Sacramento. The Lakers are 12-7 all-time against the Kings at STAPLES Center and 6-4 in their last 10 contests. At ARCO Arena, the Lakers have gone 5-5 in their last 10 games but have won four straight in Sacramento. In their last visit to Sacramento on April 6, 2008, the Lakers defeated the Kings by 22 points, their largest victory in Sacramento since a 23-point win 3/23/89. Two seasons ago in 2006-07, the Lakers were whistled for 42 personal fouls in their 132-128 overtime victory January 4, 2007 at ARCO Arena, establishing a new Los Angeles era franchise record. The Lakers last committed 42 personal fouls back on 2/17/57 versus St. Louis when the team was still in Minneapolis. Additionally, the Lakers and Kings combined for 80 personal fouls and 102 free throws on the night, which was, at the time, the most fouls committed by two teams in more than seven years. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 21-12 against the Kings. In 44 career games against the Kings including 36 starts, Kobe Bryant is averaging 25.6 points. The Lakers and Kings haven’t met in the postseason since the 2002 Western Conference Finals. While Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher both played in that series, only Bobby Jackson remains on their roster from that season following an offseason trade that brought Jackson back to Sacramento.

The Sacramento Kings are coming off a poor effort in a home loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. The old saying of a wounded animal is a dangerous animal applies here.
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LAKERS UPDATES

STRONG STARTS
With their victory December 7 vs. Milwaukee, the Lakers improved to 17-2 for the second time ever and are off to their best start to a season through 19 games since 1985- 86 when Los Angeles began the season a franchise-best 19-2 before losing their third game. This season, the Lakers began the year 7-0, coming within four wins of the franchise’s best undefeated start to a season which came in 1997-98 when they opened 11-0 before their first loss. The Lakers extended their one-loss record this season to 14-1, marking the second time the Lakers have ever been at least 14-1 while falling two wins shy of the franchise’s best one-loss start which came in the form of a 16-1 record to begin the 2001-02 campaign. Phil Jackson led teams have now won at least 17 games before their third loss on three occasions, twice with the Chicago Bulls and now once with the Lakers - 2008-09: 17-2, 1995-96: 23-2, 1996-97: 17-2. With their 95-106 loss to Detroit November 14, the Lakers suffered their first defeat of the 2008-09 season. The loss snapped a seven-game win streak that was the team’s longest to start a season since opening the 2001-02 season 7-0. Only twice in franchise history had the Lakers started the season with a better mark, going a franchisebest 11-0 to open the 1997-98 campaign and 8-0 to start the 1987-88 season. This was the second time under head coach Phil Jackson that the Lakers have opened the season 7-0 (2008-09, 2001-02). Only once has a Jackson-led team opened the season with a better record, with the 1996-97 Bulls going 12-0 to begin the season.

WIRE-TO-WIRE
The Lakers posted their fifth wire-to-wire victory of the season with a 105-92 victory over Milwaukee December 7. It was the team’s second straight victory in which they never trailed, having defeated the Wizards two days prior on December 5 in Washington (106-104). On opening night, the Lakers defeated Portland 96-76 for their first wire-to-wire victory of the season, defeated the Hornets 93-86 at New Orleans November 12 for their second and knocked off Denver 104-90 November 21 for their third. Last season, the Lakers did not record a wire-to-wire victory until December 16 vs. LA Clippers. In 2007-08, the Lakers ranked second in the NBA behind the Dallas Mavericks (18) with 15 wire-to-wire victories (games in which they never trailed). The Lakers also posted four such victories during the 2008 postseason, going wire-towire against the Jazz in Games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals versus Utah and Games 2 and 4 of the Western Conference Finals versus San Antonio. Conversely, the Lakers played just two games last season in which the opposite was true, having never led in their 11/23/07 loss at Boston and 1/17/08 loss to Phoenix.

BRYANT BECOMES 22nd EVER TO 22,000 POINTS (2nd YOUNGEST, 12th FASTEST IN TERMS OF GAMES)
With 28 points December 2 at Indiana, Kobe Bryant became the 22nd player in NBA history to score 22,000 points and in doing so, became the second youngest player ever to 22,000 points (30 years, 101 days), one day older than Wilt Chamberlain (30 years, 100 days) who scored his 22,000th point on 11/26/66. The next youngest to 22,000 points were Oscar Robertson (31 years, 117 days) on 3/21/70 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31 years, 350 days) on 4/1/79. The youngest player in league history to accumulate 12,000 - 20,000 career points, Bryant became the 12th fastest to 22,000 points in terms of games, reaching the mark in 881 career games. Through his career, Bryant has been the 29th fastest to 15,000, the 22nd fastest to 16,000, the 20th fastest to 17,000, the 16th fastest to 18,000, the 15th fastest to 19,000, the 15th fastest to 20,000 and the 12th fastest to 21,000 points in terms of games. Earlier this season, with 29 points November 14 against Detroit, Kobe Bryant moved past both Larry Bird and Gary Payton on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Bryant (22,088) now trails Clyde Drexler (22,195) for 21st on the all-time list. Bryant, currently in his 13th NBA season, passed Bird in his 874th career game. Bird reached 21,791 points in 897 career games over 13 seasons while Payton reached 21,813 points in 1,335 games over 17 NBA seasons. Last season, Bryant became the 25th player in NBA history to score 21,000 points and in doing so, became the second youngest player ever to 21,000 points (29 years, 194 days) and second ever under the age of 30 behind Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 184 days). Michael Jordan was the third youngest to 21,000 (30 years, 40 days). Earlier in the season, Bryant, at 29 years, 122 days, became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points and