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Lakers secure top seed in the West

Los Angeles Galaxy soccer star David Beckham attends the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday. PHOTO :AP

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 concluded their season yesterday against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Lakers are set to play either the Mavericks or the Denver Nuggets in Western Conference quarter-finals.

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.

Sheldon Williams, front, of the Sacramento Kings puts up a shot against Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers during their game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on Tuesday. PHOTO :AFP

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.

Hornets 114, Clippers 92

At New Orleans, David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul had 12 during a decisive run in the third quarter as New Orleans downed the Los Angeles Clippers to clinch the Southwest Division.

The Hornets have the No. 2 seed in the playoffs in the rugged Western Conference.

Hornets coach Byron Scott earned his 300th career victory.

New Orleans struggled for a half against the reeling Clippers before putting them away with 26-6 spurt in the third quarter. The Clippers have lost six in a row and are 4-25 in their last 29 games.

Paul finished with 22 points and 12 assists.

Rookie Al Thornton led the Clippers with 26 points.

Pistons 115, Timberwolves 103

At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Jarvis Hayes scored 20 points and Richard Hamilton added 18 as Detroit clinched the NBA’s second-best record behind Boston.

With the victory, Detroit will have home-court advantage over any Western Conference opponent if it makes the NBA finals.

The loss, which ended Minnesota’s two-game winning streak, was its 60th of the season.

Chauncey Billups added 17 points and six assists against his former team.

Magic 121, Hawks 105

At Atlanta, Maurice Evans scored a career-high 27 points and six of his Orlando teammates also scored in double figures.

Evans had 23 points in the second half as both playoff-bound teams substituted liberally, knowing the game had no impact on their postseason positioning.

Orlando already clinched the Southeast Division and will be the No. 3 seed in the East against Philadelphia. The Hawks are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 1999 as the eighth-seeded team and will play Boston.

Nets 112, Bobcats 108, OT

At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Richard Jefferson scored 28 points and hit a go-ahead jumper as New Jersey rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit.

Vince Carter added 18 points, Devin Harris had 17 and eight assists and the Nets limited Charlotte to 47 points in the final 29 minutes after giving up 61 in the first half.

Trail Blazers 113, Grizzlies 91

At Portland, Oregon, James Jones hit six 3-pointers and had 20 points to give Portland a win over Memphis and shot at a winning record.

Brandon Roy had 16 points and 11 assists for Portland (41-40), back over .500 with one game left this season. The Blazers have not finished with a winning record since the 2002-03 season.

Jarrett Jack scored 18 points and Channing Frye had 16 for Portland. Travis Outlaw punctuated the game with a pair of alley-oop dunks for the final margin.
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