They Must Find Second Option on Defense

For three days, the Sacramento Kings talked about how they needed to better control center Shaquille O’Neal, who broke off 46 points in the Lakers’ victory in Game 1.

Mission accomplished. O’Neal scored only half as many points in Game 2 on Thursday. But the Lakers won even more easily and now the Kings have another problem: stopping Kobe Bryant, who scored a game-high 32.

“It was a combination of things. . . . We were trying to be active against Shaq, so he wouldn’t get so many opportunities,” Sacramento Coach Rick Adelman said.

“But Kobe got the ball a lot in the open court and he finished. He finished a lot of them. But he also made a lot of shots in their half-court offense. We didn’t have an answer for him. He made jump shots with people in his face, he made drives, he did it all. Give him credit, Kobe is a great player.”

It’s not as if the Kings were not aware of Bryant’s skills. During the regular season, Bryant scored 24 or more points in three games against Sacramento.

“That’s the tough part about playing the Lakers, they have big guys who can really get it going,” forward Corliss Williamson said. “Kobe was the one who really stepped up [in Game 2]. He hit some tough shots early in the game and kept them right in there. He gave them momentum to push through the first quarter and throughout the game.”

After the Kings gave the Lakers fits in four tough games during the regular season, some people thought this would be a difficult series for the Lakers.

The Kings have quickly discovered what it means to step up in the playoffs. The Lakers have not only defeated Sacramento twice in impressive fashion, but they also may have taken any confidence the Kings had.

“This is our second year in a row in the playoffs. We know this is the postseason, where the games are going to be more physical,” Williamson said. “We know we’re going to have to play harder out there. It’s not going to be easy like it was during the season. It shouldn’t have caught us off guard, we should have expected it.”

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One reason the Kings have some optimism left is because the next two games (if needed) will be played in Arco Arena. Sacramento was one of seven teams in the league to average 99% capacity or better for the season and the Kings were 30-11 at home.

“There is no tomorrow now, our backs are to the wall,” Adelman said. “We’ll have our fans there and they’ve always been terrific. We’ve played well at home all year.

“One thing about our team, we’re very resilient. I would expect us to come out and play a very good game on Sunday.”

But the Kings know they can not count for their fans to keep their playoff hopes alive. They’ll have to do it on the court, where they are averaging 98 points in the two playoff games after averaging 105 during the regular season.

“You have to compete, you have to do things better,” Adelman said. “You need guys to step up, especially offensively.”