KOBE DETHRONES KINGS
03/02/2008

Kobe Bryant drops 17 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter - drawing some love from the usually hostile Sacramento crowd.

Kobe Bryant has heard nothing but boos and derisive cowbells during his long, colorful history in Sacramento until Tuesday night, when he accomplished his latest stunning feat in California's capital.

Somehow, Kobe coaxed a few "M-V-P!" chants from the stands in the city that hates to love him.

Bryant scored 17 of his 34 points in an electric fourth-quarter performance, and Pau Gasol added 31 points in Los Angeles' 12th victory in 13 games, 117-105 over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.

Bryant has been frequently brilliant in the playoffs at Arco Arena, yet he was once bizarrely unwilling to shoot in the first half of a regular-season game. He also persevered through an infamously strange bout of food poisoning from a room-service cheeseburger in the 2002 Western Conference finals.

His late-game effort will go into that list of remarkable moments, and it will rank among his best. After an awful shooting start, Bryant scored all of his fourth-quarter points in the final 5:56, including 11 straight as the Lakers took their first lead in a mean-spirited game between longtime rivals.

Bryant, newly christened the NBA's player of the month for February, led the way with a series of balletic moves, including a spinning layup and a 360-degree two-handed jam as Los Angeles pulled away.