Lakers blow past Kings at Thomas & Mack

October 19, 2009 by Noam Amir-Brownstein 

Kobe dominates scoring in preseason NBA game

Las Vegas has become a home away from home for the Los Angeles Lakers, who for the 11th straight season have played a preseason game at UNLV. They defeated the Sacramento Kings for the fifth time in a row Thursday, with a score of 98-92.

Andrew Bynum led all scorers with 24 points, including 20 in the first half, while Jason Thompson led the Kings with 19 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Lakers took a 22-point lead, 85-63, in the third quarter, but with their starters on the bench, the Kings came back to close within three points with 1:48 left in the game.

But the Lakers held off the Kings’ surge to keep the lead.

“I had a way of trying to make that game come back and get exciting for the fans,” said Lakers’ Hall of Fame head coach Phil Jackson. “We substituted freely and got the game close enough to make it exciting at the end.”

Kobe Bryant had 18 points and four assists, steals and rebounds each, in 26 minutes of action, but no others starters reached double figures.

Despite the unbalanced scoring, Jackson said, “Our rythmn was a little bit better. our passing was still suspect. I thought we didn’t pass the ball that well, even though there weren’t that many turnovers.”

Jackson also acknowledged that the game was looked at as a means of conditioning and a way to integrate newly acquired Ron Artest into the system.
The players seem to believe that Artest is already beginning to fit in nicely.

“It’s pretty seamless. He’s is coming in extremely well,” Bryant said following the game. “You have to be a basketball player to play in the system. You have to be able to handle, make decisions with the ball, shoot, pass and he has been able to do it.”

The game featured 12 lead changes and eight ties, all in the first quarter. The Lakers took a two-point lead at 24-22 with one minute left in the first and never trailed after that.

“You know I’ve been here a lot so it’s good to be out here,” Bryant said on coming back to Las Vegas. “There are a lot of Lakers fans out here so it is definitely a home away from home.”

The Kings lost their third straight preseason game, with the previous two both coming to Portland. The Lakers got their second win of the preseason, coming off a 110-91 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

The Lakers understood that despite being the defending champions, they couldn’t slack off now.

“Your only as good as your last game, we won it, its’ over, now we are on a mission to do it again,” said Lamar Odom. “We want to stay on top of that mountain.”

The Lakers’ regular season begins Oct. 27 against the 2009 No. 1 draft pick Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Kings start off their season in Oklahoma City against the Thunder on Oct. 28.