Scene Is Unrivaled as Lakers Put the Kings Out to Pasture

Where there used to be cowbells and a mess of noise, there was only stunned silence.

Where there used to be Shaquille O’Neal one-liners and Robert Horry playoff heaves in a rivalry that bordered on the best in the West, there were quiet, but significant, contributions from Tierre Brown and Brian Cook.

In a place that had held back and haunted the Lakers on plenty of past occasions, the new-look Lakers pulled off their most convincing victory of the season against an old rival -- a former rival, Kobe Bryant told everybody before the season -- as the Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings, 115-99, before 17,317 Thursday at Arco Arena.

Bryant was ill enough to miss Thursday morning’s shoot-around, but he scored 31 points on 10-for-17 shooting and had a season-best 12 assists as the Lakers set a season high for points. Lamar Odom made 11 of 16 shots and had 22 points, 16 in the first half, for the Lakers, who shot 55.4% from the field and made 12 of 26 three-point attempts, 46.2%.

It was the worst home loss for the Kings since a 116-95 setback against San Antonio in March 1998.

“We had yet to beat a top opponent like Sacramento,” Bryant said. “We were up 17 against Phoenix, we had Sacramento down late [in a Nov. 26 loss] and we couldn’t close out. Tonight, we got a big lead, talked about execution, not putting them on the free-throw line, and we won the game.”

As omens go, Thursday evening didn’t start off well for the Lakers, with Bryant walking into the locker room an hour before tipoff and saying his lungs “were burning” from a troublesome head cold before disappearing into the trainers’ room.

As results go, it got substantially better for the Lakers, who handed Sacramento (15-7) only its third loss in 17 games.

There was a time when O’Neal called them the “Queens,” and Doug Christie and Rick Fox tangled before an exhibition game, and cowbells reminded Phil Jackson that he would never be invited to a Sacramento Chamber of Commerce meeting.

That Thursday’s game would lack the crackling energy of rivalries past was even predicted by a Sacramento Bee headline on Thursday: The Thrill -- And The Hate -- Are Gone.

Rivalry or not, the Lakers will take the victory, their first in six tries this season against upper-echelon Western Conference teams.

“As was brought to my attention after we lost [Tuesday in Seattle], we were 0-5.... It made me crabby,” Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “I’m not crabby [now]. That’s for sure.”

Bryant coughed into towels and squeezed his eyes shut during timeouts -- “that Seattle weather got the best of me,” he would say later -- but what he did on the court pretty much belied how he felt.

Early in the fourth quarter, Bryant called for the ball on the wing, drove on Bobby Jackson and was staggered after Jackson grabbed and nearly threw him down with a foul.

Bryant regained his balance, cracked his neck by titling his head to the left and right, and headed to the bench for a timeout.

“That felt good,” he assured a Sacramento fan while nodding his head. “That felt good.”

Said Bryant, smiling, after the game: “I’m 230 [pounds] now. You’re going to have to hit me harder than that. I’m coming back again.”

The Lakers hung on to a substantial lead, avoiding one of the fatal flaws of the season. They had lost leads of 13 or more points in eight games this season, but not Thursday.

Bryant found Odom behind the King defense for an uncontested dunk to give the Lakers a 68-53 lead with 7:39 left in the third quarter.

Bryant completed a four-point play with 3:34 left in the third quarter, hitting a three-pointer from the top after getting fouled by Mike Bibby.

Cook’s three-pointer from the corner off Bryant’s pass gave the Lakers a 92-71 lead after three quarters. It never got much closer than that the rest of the way.

Cook finished with 12 points and Brown had a season-best 15 points.

The Lakers made 24 of 42 shots in first half, including six of 13 three-point attempts for a 55-49 halftime lead.