FINALKings 100, Lakers 95
LOS ANGELES - The Kings pulled off their biggest win of the season in beating the Lakers at Staples Center.
The Kings withstood 38 points from Kobe Bryant thanks to balanced scoring led by DeMarcus Cousins with 27 points.
The Kings had their 20-point lead cut to three, but held off a late surge led by Bryant and Shannon Brown (17 points).
The Kings (11-33) host New Orleans tomorrow night at Arco Arena.
THIRD QUARTERKings 85, Lakers 71
LOS ANGELES - The Kings jumped on the Lakers big in the third, leading by as many as 20 points. The bigs of Sacramento are outplaying their counterparts in a big way.
DeMarcus Cousins has 24 points. Samuel Dalembert has come off the bench with 17 points, his season-high.
Meanwhile Pau Gasol has only six points and seven rebounds. Andrew Bynum has eight points. Lamar Odom hasn't made a field goal and has four points.
Kobe Bryant leads all scorers with 28 points. The only other Laker in double figures is Shannon Brown with 11.
The Kings are shooting 58.5 percent.
HALFTIMEKings 59, Lakers 55
LOS ANGELES - DeMarcus Cousins vs. Kobe Bryant.
They're not defending each other, but the first to cool off could put their team in position to lose.
Cousins has 22 points, making nine of 13 shots. He also has five rebounds.
Bryant sat all but 4:24 of the second quarter. He leads all scorers with 26 points on 10 of 14 shooting.
The Kings have been the aggressors. They have a 20-14 rebounding advantage, including eight offensive rebounds.
The Kings are shooting 59.1 percent. The Lakers are at 52.6 percent.
FIRST QUARTERLakers 33, Kings 30
LOS ANGELES - The first quarter was entertaining with some history mixed in.
The Kings shot well (70 percent) but the Lakers were better (72.2 percent). DeMarcus Cousins scored 12 points and Omri Casspi had 10 for the Kings, but they weren't the stars of the quarter.
Kobe Bryant passed Hakeem Olajuwon for eighth all-time in NBA scoring on a dunk with 3:29 left in the quarter.
Bryant needed 13 to reach 26,947 to pass Olajuwon and finished with 21 points in the quarter.
The Cousins-Andrew Bynum matchup at center is an interesting one.
Bynum has just four points, but what jumps out is the size difference. It makes me wonder if Cousins might eventually be better suited to play power forward, especially with the shooting touch he's shown tonight.
Cousins missed just one of his seven shots and looked good scoring with his jumper. Cousins has only one foul so he hasn't killed his own momentum.
--Jason Jones
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