The Sacramento Kings seemed downright stunned by what they had just done, throwing towels and hollering with unfamiliar joy in Staples Center's sparse visitors' locker room. DeMarcus Cousins led the festivities, bubbling with jokes and busting on everything from Carl Landry's shoes to Omri Casspi's deodorant.

"I feel like I won a championship now," the big man said with a joking smirk.

Cousins realizes Sacramento's surprising 100-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night wasn't for a title. It's certainly the high point of this young team's miserable season -- and for one improbable evening, the Kings were better than the champions.

Cousins had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Casspi added 20 points as the club with the NBA's third-worst record (11-33) beat the two-time defending champs in their own building, snapping an eight-game losing streak to Sacramento's former archrivals in the process.

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Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Barnes suffered a tear of the lateral meniscus in his right knee in Friday's game against the New Orleans Hornets, an MRI revealed Saturday. Barnes exited the game with 5:22 remaining in the second quarter and did not return.

Barnes will undergo surgery sometime early next week, at which point the team will provide a timetable for his return.

The injury occurred early on in the second quarter of the Lakers' 101-97 win when Barnes went up for a one-handed rebound and landed awkwardly.

"I came down on one foot and rolled my ankle and then my leg got stuck and I fell back," Barnes said.

The eight-year veteran is averaging 7.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 21.1 minutes per game this season.

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Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant made a running jump shot with 1:11 remaining in the third quarter against the New Orleans Hornets to move him past Oscar Robertson for ninth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

Bryant finished with 25 points in the Lakers' 101-97 win over the Hornets on Friday and now has 26,720 points. Next on the list is Hakeem Olajuwon with 26,946 points.

"It's a huge honor," Bryant said after the game. "So much of my game is built on those that came before me, Oscar in particular. It's a huge honor to be moving up that ladder."

When Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked before the game whom he thought Bryant was targeting in front of him on the all-time scoring list he didn't waste any time in saying, "Michael Jordan. I would imagine that would be the one."

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LeBron James and Kobe Bryant ran their mouths while they jogged downcourt, not quite making eye contact during an unpleasant conversation in the closing minutes.

"Just asked him what he got for Christmas," James said.

Although the two superstars wouldn't reveal what angry words they exchanged, it wasn't tough to pick out a few statements Saturday. While Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers got a disturbing first look at the Miami Heat, LeBron got the last word at Staples Center yet again.

James had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists while hitting a season-high five 3-pointers, and the Heat thrived on the holiday stage in a 96-80 victory.

Although both teams called the game a television curiosity rather than a potential NBA Finals preview, it clearly meant something to James, who had his third triple-double with Miami and the 31st of his career. James also outplayed Bryant, who scored 17 points, in his second straight Christmas win in the Lakers' home arena, following last season's victory for LeBron's Cavaliers.

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With a lengthy road trip just behind them and the Miami Heat looming directly ahead, the Los Angeles Lakers were plenty aware the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks represented a potential trap.

The Lakers fell headfirst into it anyway.

Earl Boykins scored a season-high 22 points, John Salmons added 20 and the Bucks stunned lifeless Los Angeles on Tuesday night, snapping the two-time defending champion's five-game winning streak with a 98-79 victory.

Kobe Bryant scored 21 points before getting ejected, and Pau Gasol added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who flopped in their final tuneup before their Christmas visit from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

"I told them I don't think they can play any worse than that," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "This is what we were worried about. We got out of whack there in the second half and never recovered."

Los Angeles had won six straight over the Bucks, who had lost three in a row over the past week and were down to nine healthy players after a 26-point loss at Portland on Monday. But those nine Bucks played stellar defense and hit more than 50 percent of their shots for just the third time all season.

"Both ends were good for us, so I don't want to pick one," Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles said. "In the second half, we were as good as we've been all year on the defensive end. To hold that team to 33 points, and 13 in the fourth quarter, that's a difficult task."

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At the end of a long road trip, the Los Angeles Lakers got a welcome boost from the bench.

Kobe Bryant scored 20 points, Pau Gasol had 19 and the Los Angeles Lakers won their fifth straight game Sunday, beating the Toronto Raptors 120-110.

The Lakers got 57 points from their reserves, including a season-high 16 from Andrew Bynum, who played his fourth game after returning from offseason surgery on his right knee.

Shannon Brown added 14 points and Matt Barnes had 12 as Los Angeles capped a 6-1 road trip and won for the eighth time in nine games.

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The New Jersey Nets agreed to trade Terrence Williams to the Houston Rockets in a three-way deal that will land them Los Angeles Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic and a pair of first-round draft picks, sources confirmed to ESPN.com on Tuesday.

The trade, which has been agreed upon in principle, will also send Nets veteran power forward Joe Smith to the Lakers, while New Jersey will receive Los Angeles' 2011 first-round pick and Houston's 2012 lottery-protected first-rounder, sources said.

To make roster room for Williams' arrival, sources said, Houston has struck a deal with Sacramento that will send Jermaine Taylor to the Kings for a future second-round pick.

"Welcome welcome, to all my jersey fans an people it's been real I love y'all an thanks, to HOUSTON what uppppp 'go Rockets' lol," Williams tweeted Tuesday night.

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Just in case the Los Angeles Lakers forgot why they're off to a perfect start to the season, a strong challenge from the Toronto Raptors should force the champs to rekindle their interest in defense and rebounding.

Coach Phil Jackson plans to make certain of it in practice this weekend.

Pau Gasol scored 30 points, Kobe Bryant added 23 points and six assists, and the Lakers remained unbeaten with a 108-103 victory Friday night despite failing to shake the Raptors throughout an uncomfortable fourth quarter.

Steve Blake scored 14 points and Shannon Brown added 12 for the Lakers, who improved to 6-0 even after struggling mightily to put away Toronto, which frequently seemed to be a couple of baskets away from a stunning upset.

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The Lakers have played far too many games over the past three years to believe a 3-0 start is anything more than a tiny prologue to another exhausting season.

Still, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant can't help liking what they've seen in the first week of their title defense.

Gasol had 26 points and 12 rebounds, Bryant added 20 points and the Lakers easily kept up their unbeaten start to the season with a 107-83 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.

Lamar Odom had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won 10 straight over their upstate rivals. They got little challenge from the Warriors this time out, jumping to a 20-point lead at the first-quarter buzzer and never letting it dwindle below double digits in the second half.

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Five months apart, the Los Angeles Lakers have consecutive victories in Phoenix.

The first sent the Lakers to the NBA Finals and an eventual championship. This one gave Phil Jackson his 1,100th victory, something only four other coaches have accomplished.

"It's just a number," he said, "but it's kind of overwhelming how many it is."

The Lakers spoiled the Suns' home opener 114-106 on Friday night behind Lamar Odom's 18 points and 17 rebounds in a rematch of last season's Western Conference finalists.

Kobe Bryant scored 25 points and Pau Gasol had 21 in the Lakers' eighth victory over Phoenix in their past 10 meetings. No coach has reached 1,100 victories faster than Jackson, who did it in 1,560 games, winning 11 championships along the way, with some help from Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Bryant, among others.

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