LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Pau Gasol scored 22 points as the Los Angeles Lakers secured the top spot in the Western Conference and home-court advantage with a 124-101 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
MVP-candidate Kobe Bryant overcame a rough shooting night to finish with 20 points as the Lakers closed out the regular-season with four straight victories.
Los Angeles (57-25) owns a half-game lead and a tiebreaker in the standings over the New Orleans Hornets (56-25), who conclude their season on Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Lakers are set to play either the Mavericks or the Denver Nuggets in Western Conference quarterfinals.
Jordan Farmar beat the first-half buzzer with a 3-pointer to give Los Angeles a 62-48 cushion, which would grow after the teams' emerged from the locker rooms.
The Lakers buried the Kings with a 22-7 run to end the third quarter.
All the Lakers' starters sat out the final quarter with the game well in hand as the bench contributed 45 points in the contest.
The Kings were missing their two leading scorers Kevin Martin (right knee) and Ron Artest (left thumb) because of various injuries.
Quincy Douby and Beno Udrih scored 32 and 22 points, respectively, for Sacramento, which missed the playoffs under first-year coach Reggie Theus.
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