Kings Reign On Lakers

The Sacramento Kings can play a little defense, too.

Chris Webber had 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Kings defeated the Lakers 103-91 Wednesday night, ending Los Angeles' seven-game winning streak and maintaining their perfect record at home this season.

The Kings, who led the NBA in scoring last year and are leading again this season with 106 points per game, used some uncharacteristically tight defense to defeat the Lakers. Los Angeles shot just 42 percent and was forced into 17 turnovers.

"We played great defense and we played great offense, too," said Predrag Stojakovic, who had 19 points for the Kings.

Jason Williams added 19 points for Sacramento, which had 11 steals while running its record at Arco Arena to 7-0 this season. The Kings have won 15 straight regular-season games on their home court.

"I thought they did a real good job collapsing in the middle," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I thought their defense created a lot of opportunities."

Shaquille O'Neal had 27 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers despite picking up his fourth foul in the opening two minutes of the second half.

Kobe Bryant added 27 points for Los Angeles in his first start of the season, but committed six turnovers. He missed the Lakers' first 15 games with a broken right hand, and came off the bench in the last four games.

Jackson said several key mistakes by Bryant in the third period prevented the Lakers from getting back into the game.

"Sometimes you could be trying too hard," Bryant sai. "Thank God for videotape. I have to break it down and see why this happened and where it was coming from. You have to study why that happens in certain situations."

The Kings were back at home after losing three of five on an East Coast trip, including a 109-95 loss at lowly New Jersey on Monday night in which they lacked energy.

"On the East Coast we had some leads that we let go. Tonight we didn't," Williams said.

Williams said there should be no more complaints about the Kings building their early season success on a weak schedule.

"People weren't giving us enough credit, but tonight they should," he said.

Sacramento led 73-64 after three periods, and extended its lead to 11 points on Stojakovic's 3-pointer with 10 minutes remaining. The Lakers never got closer than seven points the rest of the game, despite 11 points by Bryant and nine from O'Neal in the fourth quarter.

Webber and Stojakovic each had 12 points as the Kings took a 49-42 halftime lead after leading by as many as 11 points late in the second period.

The Kings went on a 10-0 run early in the second quarter with their second-stringers, who have nicknamed themselves the "Bench Mob," outplaying a Lakers lineup featuring O'Neal, Bryant and Glen Rice. Los Angeles went scoreless for 3:23 during that run.

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