The Kings have learned a couple of things this week while going against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, figuring out how to defeat one of those NBA elite squads was not one of them. A victory was not in the lesson plan.

Saturday, the Kings searched for the killer instinct, but could not get the job done against the Lakers. They lost 112-103, this time in double overtime before a wild sellout crowd of 17,345 at Arco Arena.

There were nearly as many Lakers fans as Kings fans. The packed and animosity-filled arena was good for Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who scored a game-high 38 points.

"To be honest," he said, "it had been kind of boring in here for the past couple of games. It felt good to come out and hear the boos. I even saw some hate signs."

Bryant apparently injured his right arm late in the third quarter, but that didn't stop him from making back-to-back three-pointers in the second overtime, allowing the Lakers to outscore the Kings 13-2.

Kings coach Paul Westphal talked about the pain of the overtime loss to the Cavs Wednesday which was felt more poignantly after another defeat by the Lakers.

"One-four flat," said Westphal describing the play in which Tyreke Evans was isolated at the top of the floor against Bryant. "It was our best one-on-one player against their best defender and Kobe got him. I'd do it again. That was a pretty good moment out there. It was fun."

Westphal said the losses will provide lessons.

"It's definitely a learning experience," Westphal said. "We're ramming our head against the wall and it hurts. We're going to lower our head and keep ramming it until we knock it down. Those guys are sold out to competing and seeing how good they can get."

The Kings (13-16) scored the last six points of regulation to tie the game at 94 and had the fourth quarter's final possession. However, the possession ended with Bryant knocking the ball away from Evans. Bryant shook his head defiantly and wagged his finger, "No," as he walked back to the bench.

Evans, who limped out of the locker room to a pre-arranged, post-game, meet-and-greet with fans, said he felt responsible for the defeat.

"I blame this loss on me," he said. Evans scored 18 points on nine of 23 field-goal attempts, but never did get to the free-throw line in a physical contest. "I waited too long to go on that play."

Sacramento scored the first seven points of the first overtime to take a 101-94 advantage. The Kings defended tremendously throughout the fourth quarter and first overtime, however, the offense became tentative during the final 2:39 of the first OT.

"We stopped being aggressive," Westphal said. "We started playing against the clock, which is not what we want to do. We started killing the clock before we got into our offense. As we grow, we will learn to keep attacking with what got us the lead."

Once again, the Kings received huge contributions from Donte Greene, 16 points and solid defense against Bryant; Jon Brockman, nine rebounds in 21 minutes; Ime Udoka, 11 points and solid defense against Bryant; Beno Udrih, team-high 23 points and six assists; and Omri Casspi, 15 points and season-high 10 rebounds.

The Lakers played without former Kings swingman Ron Artest, who did not travel with the team Saturday morning after a Friday night mishap in which he reportedly fell down stairs at his home. He received stitches and suffered a concussion from the fall.