SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Francisco Garcia and John Salmons scored 21 points apiece, and the Sacramento Kings snapped an eight-game losing streak with a surprising 113-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers last night.

Bobby Jackson added 15 points for the Kings, whose first victory in nine home games was one of the NBA's most improbable results of the young season. Sacramento (6-16), which had lost 11 of its last 12 games overall, steadily increased a fourth-quarter lead against the Lakers, who couldn't rally while Kobe Bryant struggled with 9-of-25 shooting.

"It's probably our biggest win of the season, especially at home, since we've been struggling," Salmons said. "Hopefully we can grow from this. This was one of those games that could turn your whole season around. We could look back at tonight's game a year from now and say, 'The Lakers game was the turning point of this season.' "

Bryant scored 28 points and Pau Gasol had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who had won three straight while opening the season 17-2, matching the best start in franchise history.

Playing without injured leading scorer Kevin Martin, Sacramento took a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter and scored eight straight points to go up 97-82 with 9 1/2 minutes to play. The Kings led by 17 with 6 1/2 minutes left, increasing the lead to 110-92 with 3:17 left on Beno Udrih's layup.

Los Angeles hadn't lost to a Western Conference team this season, going 11-0.

NOTES

Cavaliers: LeBron James had three steals in last night's 114-94 win over Toronto to become the franchise's career leader in steals with 736. Teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskas grabbed six rebounds to become the team's career leading rebounder with 5,230.

Bobcats: Charlotte is closing on signing veteran forward Juwan Howard, who had been without a job since being released by Denver last month. GM Rod Higgins said he had been in discussions with Howard's agent, David Falk, and expects to complete a deal in a day or two.

Pistons: Antonio McDyess has re-signed with Detroit a month after being dealt to Denver as part of the Allen Iverson trade. The Pistons announced yesterday that McDyess was back for the rest of the season, but did not disclose financial terms of the deal.