Sacramento, CA (My Sportsbook) - Pau Gasol posted 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Kobe Bryant added 22 points, as the Los Angeles Lakers inched closer to owning the best record in the NBA with a 122-104 drubbing of the lowly Sacramento Kings at ARCO Arena.

Lamar Odom ended with 15 points and 11 boards for the Lakers, who have won four in a row. Trevor Ariza finished with 14 points for Los Angeles, which has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the West. Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Los Angeles (62-16) moved within a half-game of idle Cleveland (62-15) for the best mark in the league.

"We played better and closed the game out," said Bryant. "The stars didn't have to get off the bench and go back in. Our second unit did a good job. We didn't make any adjustments, they were just hot."

Sacramento was paced by Spencer Hawes, who scored 21 points and grabbed 15 boards. Francisco Garcia ended with 19 points for the Kings, who have dropped five straight games. Jason Thompson added 18 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento, which owns the worst record in the NBA at 16-61.

"I think early we were making shots, and they are so long that they don't really have to foul," said Hawes. "They just jump straight up and make you jump over them. When we stopped making shots and tried to turn it around we didn't attack the rim as much as we should have."

The Kings surprised the Lakers in the first quarter, jumping out to a 37-31 lead after 12 minutes of play. But Los Angeles responded in a big way.

Trailing 44-36 early in the second, the Lakers ripped off 10 consecutive points to grab a two-point lead. Jordan Farmar went 1-of-2 from the stripe and drilled a trey to culminate the run with a little over 7 1/2 minutes left until halftime.

Ahead 54-53, Los Angeles finished the frame on a 17-2 run to take a commanding 71-55 advantage into the locker room. Bryant tallied five points during the surge, which was topped off by a Shannon Brown layup.

Down 96-80 late in the third quarter, Sacramento scored the final six points of the period to cut the deficit to 10.

But the Lakers essentially put the game away by going on a 13-2 run to start the final frame. Vujacic's jumper ended the flurry and put Los Angeles ahead 109-88 with under 7 1/2 minutes to play.

The Kings never got closer than 18 points the remainder of the game.

Game Notes

LA shot at a 51.1 percent clip from the field, compared to 44.2 percent for Sacramento...Los Angeles hit 22-of-29 foul shots, while the Kings went 13- of-17 from the stripe...The Lakers won the season series with Sacramento, 3-1. Los Angeles has won five of its past six meetings with the Kings overall...Sacramento guard Kevin Martin missed his third consecutive game with a sore left ankle. He is listed day-to-day.