Lakers 117 - Kings 105

Sixty games into the regular season and the Lakers were yet to play their old rivals, the Sacramento Kings. Of course those old Kings are all gone, no more Bibby, no more Christie, no more Webber - For the Lakers, no more Shaq, no more Fox, no more Horry but Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Phil Jackson still remember the heated rivalry, so do the the Kings fans. During tonights game Kobe was shocked to hear some MVP chants from the Arco Arena crowd instead of hearing nothing but the cow bells. Love him or hate him the Sacramento fans could not help but to applaud Bryant for his late fourth quarter heroics in this game for the Lakers.

This Sacramento team, with talents such as Kevin Martin, Ron Artest and Brad Miller actually did a decent job on Kobe and the rest of the Lakers by playing tough defense through out the game and controlling most of the game. The Kings led through out the whole game until Kobe caught fire by scoring 17 of his game high 34 points in the fourth quarter (all in the final 5:56 of the game), at one point 11 in a row. I don't know the record for most points in a six minute span but Kobe's 17 points in 5:56 has got to be close to the record, if not a record. The Lakers took their first lead of the game, 101 - 100, when Bryant hit a couple free throws with just over four minutes left in the game. The Lakers tough defense in the final minutes also prevented the Kings from scoring in the final 4:07 of the game and with Kobe scoring at will, the Lakers won the game 117 - 105 to remain only percentage points behind the San Antonio Spurs for the Western Conferences best record. With his excellent play like this it is no wonder that Kobe was named NBA player of the month of February.

Pau Gasol scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Lakers and won his first game ever in Sacramento, all those years in Memphis equaled nothing but losses at Arco Arena. Pau was impressed with Kobe's performance "We know what he's capable of doing. I know he can take over games. He's so gifted athletically and skill-wise. He's got a tremendous passion inside him. The way he attacked tonight, it was the kind of effort we need every night." Lamar Odom had another good quite game scoring 19 points and getting 12 rebounds for the Lakers. Derek Fisher chipped in 17 points for the Lakers.

Ron Artest and Kevin Martin each scored 23 points for Sacramento who dropped to 0-8 against Pacific Division rivals. The Kings may not make the playoffs this season but they have beat some elite teams of the league. They have beat Detroit, San Antonio, Dallas and New Orleans. Kobe made sure that the Lakers would not be added to that list.