LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers' playoff opener was Shaq's Show. Game 2 was Bryant's Time.
Kobe Bryant, seemingly improving with every game, scored 22 of his career playoff high 32 points in the first half Thursday night as the Lakers rolled to a 113-89 victory over the Sacramento Kings and a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.Game 3 in the best-of-five series will be played Sunday at Arco Arena in Sacramento, where a fourth game will be played Tuesday night, if necessary.
Shaquille O'Neal, who had 46 points, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots in the Lakers' 117-107 victory in the opener, had 23 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots in Game 2, and Glen Rice added 18 points.
The Lakers took command by outscoring Sacramento 16-3 in the final seven minutes of the second quarter for a 56-41 halftime lead.
The Kings appeared thoroughly demoralized before the third quarter was over, and understandably so, considering the Lakers led by as many as 23 points before settling for an 83-64 lead entering the final period.
Chris Webber, who scored 28 points in 27 minutes before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter of the opener, avoided foul problems in Game 2 and shrugged off a bad start to get 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in 42 minutes.
It wasn't nearly enough.
Vlade Divac was the only other Sacramento player in double figures with 14 points.
The Kings were determined to do a better job of blocking out after the Lakers got 25 offensive rebounds in Game 1, but the Kings did poorly early.
The Lakers picked off four in one sequence and had eight in the first seven minutes -- including four by O'Neal and three by A.C. Green -- to help them go ahead for good. In all, the Lakers had 14 offensive rebounds.
The Kings made their first four shots and were 7-of-11 at one stage, but trailed 21-15 mainly because they couldn't keep the Lakers off the offensive boards.
It was 35-24 entering the second quarter, and the Kings opened the period with a 14-5 run to draw within two points. At that stage, the Lakers turned up the intensity on defense in pulling away to their 15-point halftime lead.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
BUCKS 104, PACERS 91: At Indianapolis, the Milwaukee Bucks found their offense and shed a decade of playoff frustration.
Ray Allen and Sam Cassell scored 20 points apiece as Milwaukee beat Indiana 104-91 Thursday night, the Bucks' first playoff victory since 1990.
The Bucks evened the best-of-five Eastern Conference series at one game apiece, taking the home-court advantage away from the rattled Pacers as the first-round series heads to Milwaukee for the next two games on Saturday and Monday.
The Bucks had lost four straight playoff games to the Pacers, including last year's 3-0 first-round sweep. But the poor shooting in Sunday's 88-85 loss was forgotten in a hurry. The Bucks never trailed, hit 15 of 21 shots in the first quarter, built the lead to 27 points late in the second period and to 31 in the third quarter.
The Pacers, losing by the largest margin since a 19-point defeat to Chicago in the 1998 conference finals, never caught up.
Rik Smits, who had 12 points in the first half, was ejected after putting a forearm to Ervin Johnson's head as they fought for a rebound midway through the third quarter.