SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- DeMarcus Cousins had 23 points and 19 rebounds, Tyreke Evans scored 17 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Lakers backups 113-96 Thursday night in the regular-season finale for both teams. Kobe Bryant sat out along with four other Lakers starters, conceding the NBA scoring title to Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant. He needed 38 points to boost his average above Durants 28 points per game. Instead, Bryant decided to rest up for another championship chase. Los Angeles opens its first-round playoff series Sunday at home against Denver. Sacramento finished 22-44 in the lockout-shortened season. At the very least, Kings fans have the promise of the franchise staying in the city next year -- but nothing more. The atmosphere in Sacramento had a remarkably different feel than last seasons Lakers-Kings finale. At that game on April 13, 2011, the Kings seemed destine to relocate to Anaheim. Many fans, arena workers and team personnel cried. A few thousand stayed in protest -- shouting "Here we stay!" -- for almost an hour after the game, and players returned to the floor to thank them all in what felt like goodbye. In many ways, little else has changed. The Maloof family that owns the Kings backed out of a tentative $391 million deal for a new arena with the city. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and the owners are again talking, with another meeting scheduled Friday, but the future offers no guarantee. Brothers George and Joe Maloof sat courtside for the finale instead of leaving the seats to Lakers fans as the family did a year ago. Johnson sat across from the visitors bench, and it was an otherwise normal night from the announced crowd of 16,281. While the doom and gloom of the towns only professional team leaving has somewhat subsided with the Kings promising to stay next season, it still lingers until a deal is signed and a new arena is constructed. The Lakers are in quite a different mix. Phil Jackson is gone, and Mike Brown is ready for his first playoff run as Los Angeles coach. With a roster recovering from injuries and Metta World Peace serving the first of his seven-game suspension for elbowing Thunder guard James Harden in the head, nobody quite knows what to expect in the post-season from this Lakers lineup. The second string they sent out in Sacramento had no chance. Josh McRoberts had 16 points and nine rebounds and Ramon Sessions scored 14 to lead Los Angeles, also playing without Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum in game that was never close -- or contested. Sacramento led 35-21 in the final seconds of the first quarter until Sessions -- the only regular Lakers starter in the lineup -- swished a 3-pointer in front of a charging Jimmer Fredette. The Kings built a 56-39 lead in the second quarter during a spurt highlighted by Terrence Williams one-handed slam over Jordan Hill, and the rest was a formality. And exactly why Bryant decided to rest. Bryant, who missed seven games with a bruised left shin before playing the previous two, averaged 27.9 points per game while playing 58 games this season. Durant won the scoring title for the third straight year while playing all 66 contests, capping the regular season with 32 points in a win over the Kings a night earlier that forced Bryant to respond big in Sacramento. Already an NBA MVP, two-time scoring champion and winner of five NBA titles, Bryant has bigger goals to chase at age 33. That time starts Sunday. NOTES: Lakers F Matt Barnes (sprained right ankle) also sat out. Brown said he wasnt sure Barnes would be ready for the playoff opener. ... Kings veteran John Salmons missed his 15th straight game with sore hip. wholesale jerseys . The Senators defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 in overtime, which mathematically eliminates the Winnipeg Jets who are still playing the Montreal Canadiens. jerseys from china . Valanciunas averaged 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.07 blocks and 27.1 minutes in 15 games in March. He shot .620 from the field and ranked first among Eastern Conference rookies in rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage. http://www.cheapnfljerseys2015.us.co... . In an entertaining match between the third- and fourth-placed clubs, midfielder Riccardo Montolivo put Milan ahead against his former squad when Fiorentina midfielder David Pizarro gave up the ball in the 14th minute, leaving him with only the goalkeeper to beat. [url=http://www.cheapnfljerseys2015.us.com/]cheap nfl jerseys . The highly regarded rookie was not in pads, his left leg was wrapped, and he did not participate in practice at all on Tuesday. wholesale nfl jerseys . Coyles nine goals in one playoff series are a club record. Tomas Jurco and Stanislav Galiev each had a goal and two assists for the Sea Dogs. Aidan Kelly and Danick Gauthier also scored and Zack Phillips chipped in two assists.COPENHAGEN - Brent Sutter was speaking to Paul Holmgren over the summer when the topic of Scott Laughton came up and the Philadelphia Flyers general manager noted that the prospect reminded him a bit of Mike Richards. After Thursday, the two players have one more thing in common: both have served as captain of Canadas national junior team. Richards led Canada to gold in the 2005 event when Sutter was also coach. "He wasnt necessarily the best player on the team, but he was the glue of the team," Sutter recalled. Laughton, like Richards a first-round pick of the Flyers, was named captain of this years world junior squad on Friday. Sutter, now back for a third tour of duty behind the bench at the world juniors, informed Laughton of his decision before practice and then announced it to the team at the end of the workout. "Leadership with him comes naturally," said Sutter. "Hes a well-respected player inside our dressing room. He has a lot of charisma to him. He demands respect. He comes to play every night and he plays the right way." Holmgrens Richards comparison stuck with Sutter and has become clearer the more hes been around Laughton. And thats music to the 19-year-olds ears. "Ive looked up to Mike Richards for a while now," said Laughton, who plays for the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League. "Hes with the same agent as me and ever since my junior draft year Ive been looking up to him and watching him and hes my favourite player so its a pretty big honour to be [compared] to him." Often times Canadas captain will be a player with previous world junior experience, but there are just three returnees this time around. Jonathan Drouin, an 18-year-old, is the only forward back and was named an alternate captain along witth Minnesota Wild defenceman Mathew Dumba.dddddddddddd The other two returning players are defenceman Griffin Reinhart, who will miss the first three games due to a suspension, and goalie Jake Paterson, who is competing with Zach Fucale for the starting job. With that in mind, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Laughton had a pretty good idea of how hed fit in this year. "Im an older guy with pro experience so I knew I was going to be a leader on this team whether I did get a letter or not," he said. "Im a pretty vocal guy so Im going to continue to do that and also keep the room light and joke around a bit and things like that. Whenever a guy needs me to be there Im going to stick up for my teammates. Thats the biggest thing." Its clear why Laughton was an easy choice for Sutter. The Oakville, Ont. native can do it all. He filled a shutdown role while helping Canada win titles at the under-17 and under-18 levels, but is also dangerous in the offensive end. When he left for Canadas camp a week ago, he was seventh in OHL scoring with 24 goals and 50 points in 29 games. And, of course, hes also got some professional experience. Laughton got a taste of the NHL last season playing five games for the Flyers and then six more for the teams American Hockey League affiliate. "That really benefitted me and was huge for me just in terms of my confidence," he said. Laughton stuck with the Flyers out of training camp this fall, but was sent down early in the campaign without playing a game. "Its definitely disappointing and it always weighs in the back of your mind," Laughton admitted. "Coming back to junior, I tried to use it as motivation and tried to play my heart out and be a leader back in Oshawa and I think Ive done that." cheap jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '