The NBA regular season is officially over for the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers as they were able to win their final two games and clinch the second seed in the Western Conference heading into the playoffs. Even though they were able to hold off both the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second seed in the West, it was no easy task for Kobe Bryant and company with the Sacramento Kings giving them all they could handle on Wednesday night at the Power Balance Pavilion (formerly Arco Arena).
With a strong possibility of the Sacramento Kings moving down south to Anaheim next season, the passionate fans of the Kings came out to Power Balance Pavilion to support their team for one last time in Sacramento. There was definitely no shortage of noise in the arena on Wednesday night with the fans showing their love for their NBA franchise, but despite seeing the Kings rally back from down 20 points in the fourth quarter, the Lakeshow turned out to be too much for Sacramento as Kobe Bryant took over and led the Lakers to a 116-108 victory in overtime.
Even though the Kings put up one hell of a fight against the division rival Lakers, they just didn't have enough to close out this team in the fourth quarter or in overtime. If it weren't for a clutch three-pointer by Kobe with 4.8 seconds left, the Kings would have gotten the win and left Sacramento on a high note. Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case with the Lakers winning their second straight and clinching the second seed in the West.
The one positive the Kings take moving forward is that they have a promising young squad with players like Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Thornton leading the way. Even though Evans and Cousins get a lot of the attention, Thornton has turned out to be a force to be reckoned with in this league.
Marcus Thornton put on show on Wednesday night with a team-high 33 points to lead the Kings. Tyreke Evans finished with 19 points and seven assists followed by center Samuel Dalembert with 16 points and 18 rebounds. Rookie forward DeMarcus Cousins got off to a decent start (six points and six rebounds), but ended up getting tossed after receiving his second technical foul. Jason Thompson was a spark plug off the bench for the Kings with 16 points and eight boards.
As for the Lakers, Kobe Bryant led the way as usual with a game-high 36 points and nine rebounds. Lamar Odom got the start in place of the injured Andrew Bynum and played well with 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Pau Gasol had a solid performance with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Shannon Brown got the job done off the bench with 15 points.
Now that the Los Angeles Lakers can put the NBA regular season behind them they will concentrate on their first-round opponent which will be the New Orleans Hornets.
First Round of the Playoffs (best of seven): New Orleans Hornets @ Los Angeles Lakers Sun. April 17, 2011 12:30 p.m. PST
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