Kings Pick Up One Merit Badge

The Lakers wouldn’t make too much of Sacramento’s 107-99 victory Thursday, and neither would the Kings, both teams having seen the rivalry in June, how it works then, how much more can be at stake.

And, still, there were moments, Kobe Bryant grinning at Doug Christie, Chris Webber barking at Mark Madsen, the regular season put aside for long enough to press something here, establish something there.

For now, the NBA hangs on the two of them, the Lakers, three-time defending champions and occasionally vulnerable, and the Kings, the team many believe can end the Laker run. For the moment at Arco Arena, the Kings were better, the Lakers of course viewing it as a less than admirable victory.

Asked if there were reason now to fear the Kings, so far ahead in the Pacific Division standings and having won two of three games against them, Laker Coach Phil Jackson snapped, “Absolutely none. I have absolutely no fear of this team at all. Did you look at their bench and their demeanor? They whined the whole game long. I mean, if they’re unhappy with the refereeing every time we play them, they obviously are carrying something inside that says they have to have the referees to win the game or something.

“Maybe it’s just their behavior on their home court, but that’s not good behavior for a team that wants to win a championship, or thinks it can win a championship.”

The Kings scored 41 points in the fourth quarter, when they made 13 of 19 shots, burying the Lakers with pick-and-rolls and open jumpers at the end. After blowing a large early lead, they made most of their late shots, scoring on six possessions in a row down the stretch, turning a one-point lead into seven points, turning a horrified crowd into a joyful one. A man across from the Laker bench held up a sign that asked, “Who are the Queens now?”, a theme that is sure to continue as the playoffs near.

Chris Webber scored 26 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, and Peja Stojakovic scored 23, both of them making critical jumpers and dynamic plays that put the Lakers away. Mike Bibby, likened by Shaquille O’Neal to a Cub Scout a week ago, had 19 points. Bibby has a tattoo on one shin that reads, “Only God can judge me,” and he’ll probably stick to that for now.

“I don’t care what he says, you know that,” Bibby had told the Sacramento Bee. “I don’t care what anybody says about me. He’s probably looking for a little more attention, since Kobe has been getting all of the love. I can’t fault him for that.”

Kobe Bryant had 34 points, 11 in the third quarter and 15 in the fourth, and 13 rebounds. O’Neal had 28 points and 13 rebounds and no fears.

“We’ll be fine against this team,” O’Neal said. “I’m not worried at all. ... They will have to play perfect basketball to beat us.”

It was looking perfectly awful for the Kings when Bryant made a five-point play in the fourth quarter (three-point basket, foul and technical foul). Bryant skipped from the floor with the score tied at 78.

“Man, we ain’t going nowhere! We ain’t going nowhere! Where are we going?” he screamed on his way off the floor.

The Lakers last led at 90-89, then left the Kings open for jumpers and turned the ball over at their own end. The Kings scored the next eight points, four by Webber. When it was done, the last couple of minutes spent watching the Kings laugh and play to the crowd (“The same old front-runner stuff they always do,” Brian Shaw said), the Lakers turned and walked through their tunnel. They had lost for the first time in four games, for the sixth time in 25, but claimed to be undaunted by the Kings’ devastating fourth-quarter run.

“They won, you can’t take that away from them,” Shaw said. “But they didn’t do anything spectacular, anything where we think we have to make an significant changes.”

Unlike past seasons under Jackson, the Lakers are still a little light on victories in mid-March. They are a half-game behind the Utah Jazz for sixth place in the Western Conference, closer to eighth than could feel quite right to them.

If the Lakers remain in seventh and the Kings win the division, they could resume last year’s conference finals -- won by the Lakers in overtime of Game 7 in this gym -- this time in the first round. The teams play again April 10 in Los Angeles.

The Lakers surely would have to bring their defensive legs, particularly in the fourth quarter, often their time to beat the Kings. Jackson, upon emerging from his locker room 20 minutes after the game, offered, “I just ripped them about their defense.”

Bryant agreed, adding, “I don’t think you can put too much stock into this game. I don’t think the Kings are real comfortable with their win tonight.”