PAU GASOL had 22 points, leading MVP candidate Kobe Bryant added 20, and the Lakers beat the short-handed Sacramento Kings 124-101 in Los Angeles on Tuesday night to clinch the No. 1 seed in the West and home-court advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

“I told the guys to celebrate, have a good time for two days,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “We’re back to business Thursday.”

The Lakers (57-25) begin the playoffs this weekend — most likely Sunday — against Denver or Dallas. It will be the Nuggets unless they beat Memphis and Dallas loses to No. 2 seed New Orleans. If the Hornets win, they’ll have the same record as the Lakers, but Los Angeles wins the tiebreaker because of a better conference record.

The Lakers enter the playoffs having gone 8-1 to finish the regular season.

“It’s all about momentum,” Bryant said. “You want to be playing your best basketball going into the playoffs, and we feel like we’re doing that so we ended the season exactly where we wanted to.”

The Lakers were 3-0 against Denver this season and 3-1 against Dallas.

“Whoever we face, we’re going to have our hands full,” said Bryant, mindful of the strength and depth in the West, where as many as eight teams could finish with at least 50 victories. “No matter who you match up with in the West, it’s going to be tough.”

Gasol shot 9-of-11 before coming out of the game for good with 2:38 left in the third quarter, and Bryant joined him on the bench moments later after having shot just 3-of-13. But he went 13-of-14 from the foul line.

Lamar Odom added 15 points and 12 rebounds, Vladimir Radmanovic scored 14 points, Jordan Farmar added 13, and Ronny Turiaf had 10 points and six assists for the Lakers, who went strictly with reserves in the fourth quarter.

Quincy Douby led the Kings (38-44) with a career-high 32 points. Beno Udrih scored 22 points, Francisco Garcia added 15 and Shelden Williams had 12 points and a season-high 11 rebounds.

The Kings played their final game of the season without their top three scorers: Kevin Martin, Ron Artest and Brad Miller. Artest, who has a sprained left thumb, missed the final two games after scoring 22 points in a 94-91 victory over New Orleans on Saturday night, a triumph that opened the door for the Lakers to win the West.

The acquisition of Gasol from Memphis on Feb. 1 has paid huge dividends. The Lakers are 22-5 with the 7-footer in their lineup.

(SD-Agencies)