DeMarcus Cousins came out meaning business. He scored 12 points on 6-7 shooting, mainly on jumpers, including a tough contested fadeaway. He was pulled from the game for Carl Landry when Samuel Dalembert came in, presumably to save him for the rest of the game and also not to pick up a 2nd foul.
Tyreke Evans fell into that trap early, getting two quick fouls despite playing well early. He only was able to play the first 5 minutes, and it included a layup where he blew by Ron Artest and muscled his way to the basket.
Kobe Bryant was way too much for Sacramento. He scored 21 points in the first quarter alone. On his 13th point, he passed Hakeem Olajuwan for 8th place on the All-Time Scoring List late in the quarter on a steal and breakaway dunk.
Both teams traded blows and runs back and forth through the quarter. Sacramento finished the quarter shooting 70%, and the Lakers 72.2%. The biggest problem for Sacramento however has been turnovers, as they have 5 while Los Angeles only has 1.