Lakers-Kings Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Apr 26 2012 11:12AM

The Los Angeles Lakers are ready to take the court again after the NBA's ruling on Metta World Peace.

The Sacramento Kings could be taking the court in California's capital city for the final time.

World Peace will begin his seven-game suspension when the Lakers visit the Kings in what could be the final NBA game at Power Balance Pavilion on Thursday night.

Banned for elbowing Oklahoma City forward James Harden in the head during the Lakers' 116-108 double-overtime win Sunday, World Peace's absence leaves Los Angeles (41-24) thin at small forward. Matt Barnes won't travel to Sacramento due to a sprained right ankle, leaving Devin Ebanks - out earlier with a stress fracture in his left leg - as coach Mike Brown's best option.

"Metta has to abide by what the league says," Brown said. "Matt has to get healthy and then same with Devin. Otherwise we gotta fit guys how we can and go play the game. Nobody's going to feel sorry for us right now so we gotta figure out how to go get wins."

Los Angeles clinched the Pacific Division and No. 3 seed in the Western Conference when the Clippers lost at Atlanta on Tuesday. Thursday's other games will determine the Lakers' first-round opponent.

With no chance to affect their playoff position, the Lakers' only incentive for Thursday is whether Bryant can win the scoring title, as he's locked in a tight race with Kevin Durant.

The Thunder star scored 32 points in a loss to Denver on Wednesday, leaving Bryant in need of 38 on Thursday to claim his third scoring title and prevent Durant from becoming the seventh player to win three in a row.

Durant is averaging 28.0 points, Bryant 27.9.

"I don't care about that," Bryant said. "If I did, I would have went for 50 (last week) in San Antonio. They were playing me straight-up in single coverage."

This is the second straight season the Lakers are visiting Sacramento for their regular-season finale. Once again, the Kings' future in the city is up in the air.

Near the end of last season, Anaheim's City Council issued the bonds needed to entice the franchise and new federal trademark rights were requested. The Kings' owners, the Maloof brothers, opted to give Sacramento another chance to retain the franchise.

An agreement was reached with the city on an arena deal, but that has fallen apart. The Kings (21-44) are scheduled to play at Power Balance Pavilion next season, although the situation remains in flux with Anaheim's mayor once again expressing interest in the team.

The Kings have spent 27 seasons in Sacramento, and Bryant spoiled last season's finale in the Lakers' 116-108 overtime victory. He scored 36 points and sent the game into the extra period with a tying 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds to go.

Bryant has averaged 33.5 points to help the Lakers split two meetings with the Kings in 2011-12.

Sacramento has dropped 10 of 12. Top scorer Marcus Thornton has missed three straight games with a left quad contusion.

Kings beat resting Lakers 113-96 in season finale

By ANTONIO GONZALEZ
Posted Apr 27 2012 1:56AM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Kobe Bryant skipped a chance to win an NBA scoring title and thought nothing of it.

The Lakers' star sat on the visitor's bench during Sacramento's meaningless 113-96 victory over Los Angeles in Thursday night's regular-season finale dressed in a sharp grey suit and tie. Even if he wanted to prevent Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant from leading the league in scoring for the third straight year - and Bryant swears he didn't - he knew he couldn't try.

After all, there's a championship to chase.

"You have to send that message," Bryant said after the game. "That's what this season is about. That's what we're about as a team. It's not about the individual goals. You have to put the team goals ahead of it."

Bryant sat out along with four other Lakers' starters, conceding the scoring title to Durant. He needed 38 points to boost his average above Durant's 28 points per game.

The only thing Los Angeles is looking at is its first-round playoff series against Denver. The Lakers open the best-of-seven series Sunday at Staples Center.

"There was no question in his mind. Not one time did he ever hint to me that he was going to play," Lakers coach Mike Brown said of Bryant, lauding the sacrifice by the team leader. "I know that there was a lot of speculation and a lot of hype about it and all that stuff. It's just who he is. A lot of people are wrong with it. He thinks it's best for him and best for the team."

DeMarcus Cousins had 23 points and 19 rebounds and Tyreke Evans scored 17 points for the Kings against the Lakers' backups. Sacramentio finished 22-44 in the lockout-shortened season.

At the very least, Kings fans have the promise of the franchise staying in the city next year - but nothing more.

"We obviously didn't have a lot of purpose there, but we're still going to do things that we need to do as a basketball team and I thought our guys did that," said Kings coach Keith Smart, who replaced the fired Paul Westphal after a 2-5 start and already has had his contract extended for next season.

The atmosphere in Sacramento had a remarkably different feel than last season's Lakers-Kings finale.

At that game on April 13, 2011, the Kings seemed destine to relocate to Anaheim. Many fans, arena workers and team personnel cried. A few thousand stayed in protest - shouting "Here we stay!" - for almost an hour after the game, and players returned to the floor to thank them all in what felt like goodbye.

In many ways, little else has changed.

The Maloof family that owns the Kings backed out of a tentative $391 million deal for a new arena with the city. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and the owners are again talking, with another meeting scheduled Friday, but the future offers no guarantee.

Brothers George and Gavin Maloof sat courtside for the finale instead of leaving the seats to Lakers fans as the family did a year ago. Johnson sat across from the visitor's bench, and it was an otherwise normal night from the announced crowd of 16,281.

While the doom and gloom of the town's only professional team leaving has somewhat subsided with the Kings promising to stay next season, it still lingers until a deal is signed and a new arena is constructed.

The Lakers are in quite a different mix.

Phil Jackson is gone, and Brown is ready for his first playoff run as Los Angeles' coach. With a roster recovering from injuries and Metta World Peace serving the first of his seven-game suspension for elbowing Thunder guard James Harden in the head, nobody quite knows what to expect in the postseason from this Lakers lineup.

"You want to be as healthy as possible at this point, especially going into the postseason," Brown said. "Our guys are in the right spot health-wise, and hopefully we'll be able to go into this thing with some energy on top of the health and let nobody outwork us."

The second string the Lakers sent out in Sacramento had no chance.

Sacramento led 35-21 in the final seconds of the first quarter until Ramon Sessions - the only regular Lakers starter in the lineup - swished a 3-pointer in front of a charging Jimmer Fredette. The Kings built a 56-39 lead in the second quarter, and the rest was a formality.

And exactly why Bryant decided to rest.

Bryant, who missed seven games with a bruised left shin before playing the previous two, averaged 27.9 points per game while playing 58 games this season. Durant played all 66 contests, capping the regular season with 32 points in a loss against Denver a night earlier that forced Bryant to respond big in Sacramento.

Already an NBA MVP, two-time scoring champion and winner of five NBA titles, Bryant has bigger goals to chase at age 33.

That time starts Sunday.

NOTES: Lakers F Matt Barnes (sprained right ankle) also sat out. Brown said he wasn't sure Barnes would play Sunday. ... Kings veteran John Salmons missed his 15th straight game with sore hip.

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Follow Antonio Gonzalez at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP

Notebook: Kings 113, Lakers 96

Posted Friday April 27, 2012 1:44AM

By James Ham, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: With the playoffs right around the corner, the Kings took on a distorted version of the Los Angeles Lakers this evening in Sacramento. With Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum all taking the night off, the Kings had no problem dispatching the Pacific Division Champions by the score of 113-96.

DeMarcus Cousins took full advantage of the fact that neither Bynum nor Gasol were around to stop him. The second year center out of Kentucky finished with 23 point and 19 rebounds for his 36th double-double of the season. Tyreke Evans was equally impressive, scoring 21 points, while Jason Thompson kicked in a solid 17-point, 10-rebound performance in the blow out win.

Ramon Sessions, the lone Lakers regular to get the start, scored 14 points in the loss. Although he was questionable for the game with a couple of bad fingers, Devin Ebanks kicked in 14 points, while Josh McRoberts added led the Lakers with 16 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

QUOTABLE: "It's my second season of losing and I'm not trying to get used to this. I didn't want to get use to it last year. It's time to turn things around. I had enough of it. I had enough of it last season. It's time to turn it around."
-- DeMarcus Cousins on another disappointing season for the Kings

THE STAT: For the first time since the 2004-05 season, the Kings won the season series against the Lakers, taking two out of three from the playoff bound Lakers.

TURNING POINT: The turning point in this game came early in the day on Thursday when coach Mike Brown decided to sit Bryant, Gasol and Bynum. With Metta World Peace sitting out the game on suspension and Matt Barnes nursing a sprained right ankle, this wasn't the Lakers, it was a glorified D-League team.

QUOTABLE II: "I feel like if I did go play for the select team, I probably will get a spot. Honestly, but we'll see."
-- DeMarcus Cousins on the possibility of playing for Team USA

HOT: Thompson finished the season strong, scoring 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and tossed in 10 rebounds as well. The fourth year big man out of Rider showed major improvement this season on both ends of the floor and should be heavily sought after in free agency this summer.

NOT: Steve Blake was non-existent tonight, finishing with just four points in 23 minutes on 1-for-5 shooting.

GOOD MOVE: Sitting his starters was the right move for coach Brown. There is no reason to risk injury going into the playoffs when your position in the tournament is already set.

BAD MOVE: This win by the Kings took them from a three-way tie for the third position in the draft lottery, to a two-way tie for the fifth position. Depending on a couple of coin flips, this win could cost the Kings a number of draft positions.

NOTABLE: Kobe Bryant needed 38 points Thursday against the Sacramento Kings to win the 2011-12 NBA scoring title. With nothing on the line, the 16-year veteran sat out the game and All-Star Kevin Durant came away with the title.

• Lakers: Barnes
• Kings: Salmons

• Lakers: --
• Kings: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento, CA
• Officials: #22 Bill Spooner, #71 Rodney Mott, #72 J.T. Orr
• Attendance: 16281
• Duration: 2:01