Lakers Pull Away in Home Stretch

The Lakers could get used to this, winning another home game, leaning on another strong effort from Lamar Odom and brushing back the latest self-ordained Kobe Stopper, all in the name of creating more space between them and the field for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Now onto something with consecutive home victories for the first time in almost a month, the Lakers stuck it to an old rival, the Sacramento Kings, and Bryant got the best of a newer one, Ron Artest, in a 106-85 Laker victory Thursday at Staples Center.

A 15-point Laker lead was knocked down to five before the start of the fourth quarter, but Bryant, Odom and Devean George put the Lakers back in control of the game, and the standings, where they moved two games ahead of Utah and 3 1/2 up on Sacramento with 28 left in a Laker regular season showing signs of life.

Bryant had 36 points on 14-for-27 shooting, to go with six rebounds and a season-high 10 assists. Odom had another worthy game -- 19 points, nine assists, six rebounds -- and George had 15 points, nine in the fourth quarter.

Suddenly, home is where the smart is, with the Laker offense looking fluid and flawless and the defense standing up straight while holding the Kings to 13 fourth-quarter points.

“We want to build a momentum,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “Now’s the time to do it.”

The rivalry isn’t what it once was -- Bryant and King guard Mike Bibby are the only remaining starters from their playoff battles of years past -- but TNT thought enough of the game to include it in its “Rivalry Week.”

On top of it, there was a rare disturbance in the expensive seats, in the corner across from the Laker bench, leading to the ejection of a fan wearing an Artest jersey and an unhappy demeanor.

There were scents of a showdown before the game when Artest, whose No. 93 jersey has become all the rage in Sacramento, took aim at No. 8 when asked about Bryant’s 51-point outburst in a 118-109 overtime loss to the Kings last month.

“I’ll do the same thing against him as I have against all the other guys I played who averaged a lot of points. I’ll bring his scoring average down,” Artest told the Sacramento Bee.

In fact, Bryant’s scoring average stayed the same, 34.9.

“I don’t take that stuff seriously too much,” Bryant said. “That stuff’s funny. I enjoy the matchup. I enjoy the competition and look forward to matching up against him.”

Bryant got the better of Artest, driving around him for a dunk, and feeding Odom and Smush Parker for dunks in the first quarter. The Staples Center crowd was energized enough to shout “M-V-P” as Bryant shot a free throw midway through the second quarter.

Artest, slowed somewhat by a hip pointer, had 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

The Kings closed to within 77-72 after being down, 76-61, but never came closer than five the rest of the way.

Bryant had his points in the fourth quarter (not surprisingly), and so did George (somewhat surprisingly), and, above it all, Odom earned a measure of vindication.

He drew a round of criticism for his gaffe in last month’s loss to the Kings, an offensive foul while nursing a four-point lead with 22 seconds left.

But he delivered a strong follow-up to his 20-point, 17-rebound effort Tuesday against Portland. Odom, active and assertive throughout the game, made nine of 16 shots.

“I have a learning curve, a little bit,” he said with a wink. “I’ve been catching on. Watching film, trying to study, keep myself involved.”

Jackson was impressed with Odom’s two-game effort.

“There haven’t been many times we’ve been able to say that this year,” Jackson said. “I thought he carried it well from last game to this game and played a very good defensive game against Artest.”

Chris Mihm, almost fully recovered from a sprained right shoulder, started for the first time in eight games and Kwame Brown went back to the bench. Mihm had six points, Brown had five.