51.   Bryant told his teammates the Kings were right where a team looking to defend its NBA championship should want them.

52.   But Bashar Assad will be the first to succeed his father in an Arab republic where there is no king.

53.   But as all the photographers followed Johnson, clicking away as he posed and smiled, it seemed a new king was ready for his coronation.

54.   But Chartrand won a key faceoff and the Kings were able to run out the clock.

55.   But in this one, the Kings were the ones who looked distracted.

56.   But is basketball king?

57.   But just a minute later, the Kings again were two players down when Glen Murray was called for slashing in the Washington zone.

58.   But if the Kings were reluctant to deal for Bure, it had nothing to do with his talents on the ice.

59.   But it appeared as if most the Kings were uninterested in the outcome.

60.   But perhaps the Kings were a little sluggish after the three-day All-Star break.