Of course, that was ages ago. The Kings even slept three nights in their own beds before zipping back here Wednesday. That's almost enough time for a broken bone to heal.

Alas, Bryant broke none of the bones in his right wrist during a couple of falls on Sunday, including one over a television cameraman that inflamed his shooting appendage the most. And all he broke Thursday night were the backs of the Kings, who lost 113-89 at Staples Center.

The one that Sacramento might have felt the most was executed with a minute remaining in the first quarter. Bryant had already drilled a 26-foot jumper on Nick Anderson from the left side, which Jason Williams answered with a lay-in at the other end to cut the Kings' deficit to 32-22.

Bryant answered that in a big way with a 35-foot, fadeaway and straightaway bomb that fell through the net after Bryant had landed on his backside on the Lakers' centercourt logo.

Those were the 13th, 14th and 15th points of the quarter for Bryant, who went on to slash, shock and stun the Kings and the sellout crowd of 18,997 for a career playoff-best 32 points.

Sorry for Sacramento that his right wrist is sore, for it has made Bryant focus and concentrate even more on his shot. Sunday, he hit 11 of 22 attempts to finish with 23 points. Five of his seven boards were under his own team's glass. Thursday, he went 12-for-20 from the field in 37 minutes.

He ended practice sessions Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with an ice pack, tied around the wrist and large enough to sink a small oceanliner, to reduce the swelling.

"Oh, hell yes," Bryant said, when asked earlier in the week if it was more than a minor injury. But he wasn't concerned. "I don't think so. I just played through it, and the pain I have now will probably be there for quite some time."

Bryant played with a tight wrap on the wrist Thursday, and he proceeded to tighten the noose on the Kings.

"Usually, the first game you play with an injury, your concentration picks up," Bryant said. "You have a lot more focus than when you're healthy. It's a funny situation, but that's what occurs. You just focus on shooting fundamentally correct. When you're healthy, you tend to take a lot of shortcuts. When you're injured, you tend to want to do everything pretty basically.

"As a result, my shot was falling. Shoot squarely, and follow through."

And aim right between the eyes.

"On that one shot, I was right on him," said Anderson. "I knew the shot clock was winding down, and he still drilled it. Give the young man credit. There's not enough I can say. He's been playing like that all year."

That fall-down-at-midcourt-jumper represented the third time in the first quarter that Bryant snuffed out Sacramento on back-to-back plays.

Four minutes into the game, he slashed in through the left side for a twisting layup and followed that with an underhanded layin past Kings center Vlade Divac to finish off a seven-point run by the Lakers.

Three minutes later, he knifed in for a twisting dunk on Anderson, who fouled Bryant and watched him make the free throw. Bryant answered that one in his usual spectacular fashion when Shaquille O'Neal grabbed a long rebound, took a couple of giant steps and then fed Bryant for a high-flying alley-oop jam to end another seven-point run.

Bryant capped his burst with the consecutive 3-point shots.

"He was terrific," said Sacramento coach Rick Adelman. "We had no answer for him. He was great in the halfcourt and the fullcourt, and he hit some tough shots and some 3s. He did everything. He's a handful."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson has been preaching defense to his team all season, and he would have preferred a victory fueled by the end of the court. But with Bryant on your side, Showtime is never that far away.

In a game in which the Kings always seemed to have a second player flashing to defend O'Neal -- who sacked Sacramento for 46 points in the opener -- whenever and wherever he caught the ball, Bryant picked up the scoring slack.

Williams might have had the only answer near the end of the third quarter, right when the Kings were losing the last ounces of composure in their systems. Glen Rice hit a jumper to pump the Lakers' lead to 70-55, Bryant hit a couple of free throws after getting hacked by Divac and then Divac was slapped with a technical foul for protesting.

Vlade Divac scored 14 points, but was again outplayed by Shaquille O'Neal.(AP)

The Kings then missed another shot, and Bryant sailed in through the right side on a fastbreak. However, Williams wrapped both arms around Bryant before he could trek into the lane. His ensuing free throws gave the Lakers a 74-55 lead.

"If he gets in the open court, I don't know what you're going to do with him," Adelman said. "When he's one-on-one on you, the only thing you can do is what Jason did."

Just 18 seconds later, Bryant took another quick feed from O'Neal, hit the shot and drew a foul. O'Neal bear-hugged Bryant as Adelman called for a timeout, and the place went bonkers.

Which is why Southern Californians are shelling out about five times face value to sit somewhere in this $400 million hangar. A few rows up at the 50-yard line? A cool $1,000 is the price tag, according to one area ticket broker. Near Jack Nicholson? This particular broker had a ticket a couple seats away.

Only $6,000.

Bryant kept up his back-to-back tricks at the end of the second quarter, when he eased by Kings forward Chris Webber for a layin and then slammed the hammer down again with a pull-up 3-pointer from the right side to pump the Lakers' edge to 13 points.

That's when the "Kobe Is God" sign someone raised high over his head flashed on the big screen high above center court.

Kobe is so hot, everyone knew the kid wearing his No. 8 jersey would win the halftime shooting contest. The other kid wore O'Neal's No. 34. Both put on full-length shorts and a jersey, and the first to make a basket at the other end wins. When No. 8 rolled his in, he won $200 worth of travel vouchers for his parents.

Perhaps that trio will put those toward a flight to Sacramento to see their Lakers put away the Kings on Sunday.

"Hope for?" said Anderson, suppressing a laugh as if he's the only one who knows an answer to a riddle. "I don't know. We need some help. We have to find something. You all know -- what can you do with them? I need the answer, just like everyone else."

The Lakers' next layoff should give Bryant at least another week to heal that bum wrist.

Then again, if Thursday showed how Bryant responds to adversity, the Lakers and their fans probably hope that second round begins sooner than later.