The Los Angeles Lakers already have more wins under Bernie Bickerstaff than they did with Mike Brown at the helm this season.
With rumors swirling that Phil Jackson could return to the team with whom he won five of his 11 NBA titles with, Dwight Howard tallied 23 points and 18 rebounds in the Lakers' 103-90 rout of the Sacramento Kings.
Brown was 1-4 when he was relieved of his duties Friday and Los Angeles is 2-0 under its interim coach Bickerstaff.
"There's a lot of things going on, but we're still capable of going out there and winning basketball games," Los Angeles forward Pau Gasol said.
Kobe Bryant had 20 points, while Metta World Peace and Gasol chipped in 18 points apiece for the Lakers, who have won three of four since beginning the year with three straight losses.
"The effort was there, we were trying to share the basketball with each other. Kobe did a nice job of getting people involved," Bickerstaff said.
Jason Thompson had 15 points and 10 boards for Sacramento, which has dropped two in a row.
"They showed some fight, overall we did a pretty good job," Kings head coach Keith Smart said.
The Lakers took a 77-66 advantage into the fourth and the lead grew after the home team netted the first 12 points of the final frame.
Howard had five points during the run, which was capped when he split a pair from the foul line for an 89-66 Lakers advantage with 7:28 remaining.
Los Angeles led 29-22 after a quarter of play before Bryant and Howard registered 11 and nine points, respectively, as the home team took a 57-48 margin into the break.
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