Apr 19, 2007, 5:00 GMT
Sacramento, CA - Kobe Bryant poured in 34 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers into the playoffs with a 117-106 win over the Sacramento Kings, as the Pacific Division rivals wrapped up their regular season at ARCO Arena.
Kwame Brown scored 17 points, while Lamar Odom had 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the Lakers (42-40), who will be the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs and will face the second-seeded Phoenix Suns. Phoenix knocked out Los Angeles in the opening round last year in seven games. The series starts Sunday at 3 p.m. (et).
The Lakers went 1-3 against Phoenix this season and have dropped 10 of their last 12 regular-season meetings with the Suns.
Luke Walton finished with 10 points and 11 boards for the Lakers, who closed out their regular season with a two-game winning streak.
'Kobe's penetration opened many shots,' said Brown. 'All we had to do was let Kobe come off the ball and they all jumped to him. You never know what's going to happen. With the way Kobe's playing we might put him in the post. But if they get it to me, I'll be ready.'
Mike Bibby scored 17 points -- all in the first quarter -- and Ron Artest added 16 and dished out six assists for the Kings (33-49), who had their streak of eight straight years in the postseason halted.
Kevin Martin and John Salmons each chipped in with 14 points, Justin Williams had 12 and Quincy Douby donated 11 for Sacramento. Francisco Garcia also finished in double figures with 10 points.
'I would've rather had a win; a loss will stick with you for awhile,' said Bibby. 'The last couple games have been different. I've got a long summer ahead of me...I'll go relax with my family. We played better but we didn't get as many wins as we'd like.'
Bibby stole the show in the first quarter, as he made six of the team's first nine buckets. Two were from three-point range, while a short jumper at 5:25 pushed the Kings to a 20-14 edge.
Sacramento held a 24-20 lead a few minutes later, and Bibby's trey made it a seven-point lead and gave him 17 points in the contest with 3:44 still left in the first.
The Kings led 30-28 after the first quarter and 57-53 at intermission.
A pair of Bryant layups put the Lakers on top, 62-61, in the third, sparking a 13-2 run. Brown's alley oop dunk capped the rally, and following a Williams' dunk shot for Sacramento, Bryant's three-point play gave the Lakers a 76-69 lead at 4:04.
Two Martin free throws closed out the third, as the Kings trailed 88-80 heading to the final stanza.
Sacramento never got closer than four the rest of the way, while a three-point shot by Evans with a little more than five minutes remaining gave the Lakers an 11-point edge.
That cushion grew to 13 inside of two minutes to play as the Lakers coasted to the finish line.
Game Notes
Bryant earned his second straight scoring title, averaging 31.6 points this season. He became the first Lakers player to lead the league in scoring in back-to-back seasons since George Mikan did it three years in a row back when the team was still in Minneapolis, starting in 1948-49...The Lakers won the season series with the Kings, 3-1... The winning team has scored over 100 points in 20 of the last 21 meetings...Los Angeles has won 18 of the last 31 meetings overall.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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