NBA: Lakers beat short-handed Kings for first back-to-back of the season

The Los Angeles Lakers picked up their first pair of back-to-back wins in the 2012-13 season, beating the short-handed Sacramento Kings 103-90 Sunday (Monday, PHL time) at the Staples Center in LA.

The two teams entered the game with matching 2-4 records, but the win put the Lakers up at 3-4, while Sacramento slumped to 2-5. LA is now 2-0 after firing head coach Mike Brown last Friday (Saturday, PHL time).

The Kings though were playing without suspended rookie Thomas Robinson, as well as starting center DeMarcus Cousins, who was also sitting out due to disciplinary reasons, following an encounter with a San Antonio broadcaster.

Sacramento led early on, drawing first blood on a triple by Isaiah Thomas, but the Lakers used a 9-2 run to break a 16-all tie and take the lead, going up 29-22 after the first 12 minutes of play.

Come the second, the Kings fought back, emerging on top temporarily on a pair of baskets by Chuck Hayes, 39-37, 5:37 left in the half, but an 8-0 run, half coming from Kobe Bryant, made it 45-39 in favor of the Lakers, who never trailed again from that point on.

In the third, the Kings got within four points, 61-57, on a dunk by Jason Thompson, but 11 unanswered points from the Lakers, helped out by blocks from Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard, gave LA a commanding 15-point advantage.

Come the fourth, the Kings couldn't come up with enough offense to threaten the Lakers. That allowed interim head coach Bernie Bickerstaff to rest the majority of his starters, with the exception of Dwight Howard, who saw 10 minutes of play.

Howard, acquired during the offseason from the Orlando Magic, led all scorers with a monstrous double-double of 23 points and 18 rebounds, along with three blocks. Kobe Bryant added 20 on 6-of-15 shooting, while fellow starters Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol had 18 markers each.

The Kings drew 18 points off the bench from sophomore Jimmer Fredette, while Jason Thompson had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Travis Outlaw, who got the start with Cousins suspended, chipped in 11.

LA owned the glass, picking up 50 rebounds to Sacramento's 39. They also went 23-of-30 from the stripe, compared to just 11-of-14 for the Kings.  - AMD, GMA News