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Sunday, Mar. 12 9:30pm ET
Bryant had career-high 40 points | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles Lakers needed what coach Phil Jackson called one of their better performances of the season to extend their winning streak to 18 games -- the NBA's longest in four years. Now, they take their show on the road, with no time to celebrate.
Kobe Bryant had a career-high 40 points, plus 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Shaquille O'Neal added 39 points and 20 rebounds Sunday night as the Lakers rallied to beat the Sacramento Kings 109-106. O'Neal had 15 points and Bryant 12 in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers outscored the Kings 35-20, enabling them to equal the third-longest winning streak in NBA history. "Wow, what a game," Jackson said. "We had trouble getting a hold of them, but we finally found them in the fourth quarter when we got a run. "I think we're playing at our top level right now." Bryant and O'Neal became the first two Lakers to surpass 35 points in the same game since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Gail Goodrich did so in 1976. "It was pretty cool," Bryant said with a smile when asked if the game was his best. "We were just taking what the defense gave us. We had to be patient. We were able to dig deep, find some energy." O'Neal's left-handed layup with 50.2 seconds remaining snapped a 100-all tie and put the Lakers ahead for good. It was 108-103 when Sacramento's Predrag Stojakovic made a 3-point shot with 2.6 seconds left, and Derek Fisher's free throw with 1.7 seconds to go completed the scoring. The Kings were unable to get off a shot after Fisher missed his second foul shot. "Kobe's a great player," O'Neal said. "On any given night, we can score a lot of points. "Our defense picked up in the second half, and we got more aggressive. We didn't play well all the time tonight, but we did rebound very well." The Lakers outrebounded the Kings 59-33. Chris Webber led the Kings with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Stojakovic added 22 points, Vlade Divac had 15 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out in the final minute, and Jason Williams had 14 points and eight assists. "When we play our game, like we did in the first three quarters, we can play with anybody," Divac said. "But the Lakers are the best team in the league. They came back in the fourth quarter and made some plays, but it could have gone either way." Five other teams have won 18 in a row, the most recent being the Chicago Bulls, who did so from Dec. 29, 1995 to Feb. 2, 1996. Their coach was Jackson, and they went on to win the NBA championship -- one of six under Jackson in the 1990s. The 1971-72 Lakers won an NBA-record 33 straight games a season after the Milwaukee Bucks won 20 in a row. Both teams went on to win championships. The Lakers (52-11), who begin a five-game road trip at Denver on Monday night, had a 16-game winning streak earlier in the season. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Kings, who have dropped seven of their last eight road games. Kings coach Rick Adelman gave the Lakers credit for "making some plays" in the fourth quarter, but questioned the officiating. "I think this would be a good film to send (NBA executive) Rod Thorn and ask him what he thinks of that," Adelman said. "I'm also going to look at it, to see if we were seeing things that weren't there." The Lakers trailed 82-66 late in the third quarter and 86-74 entering the final period before outscoring the Kings 21-5 to take their first lead. It was 98-93 before a jump shot by Webber and a 3-pointer by Jon Barry tied the game with 2:26 remaining. O'Neal made two free throws, but Stojakovic answered with a jumper to make it 100-all. It was 53-52 before Williams and Stojakovic made 3-point shots to give the Kings their seven-point halftime lead.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Sacramento Clubhouse LA Lakers Clubhouse RECAPS Miami 105 Indiana 96
LA Clippers 112
LA Lakers 109
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