Preview: Lakers In Sacramento

After clinching a playoff spot Friday night, the Lakers set their sights on improving their playoff positioning tonight in Sacramento.

Kobe Bryant, LAL SG

The Lakers were able to escape with a victory against Dallas on Friday due in large part to the outstanding performance from Lamar Odom, who scored a season-high 31 points on 12-14 shooting from the field.

“Lamar had a remarkable game,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “It was a tough cover for Nowitzki, coming back from that ankle injury, and Lamar exploited it.”

Odom came within 3 points of his career-high of 34 points.

“Phil just told me to take the ball to the hole as much as possible. He was making fun of my jump shot,” Lamar said after the game. “I was just trying to be as aggressive as possible and trying to make as many plays as I could.”

Kobe Bryant scored 25 points, and complemented those points with 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

“It feels good to clinch,” Bryant said. “Obviously, there’s plenty of work to be done. But that’s the first step. It was similar to a playoff game. They’re playing for their playoff lives. That means a lot of intensity, and lot of desperation, and we were able to respond to it.”

The previous time the Lakers played the Kings, they suffered a heart-breaking loss, in Los Angeles, as Sacramento escaped with a 113-114 victory.

Kobe Bryant missed a potential game-winning basket after running into a double-team.

“I think we lost this one from the onset—coming out with the right sense of purpose and execution,” said Kobe after that game. “I think it’s a good wakeup call for us.”

Kings Starting 5: