SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Surely, Kobe Bryant wasn't the intentional victim of a food server at the Lakers' downtown hotel here. Surely, the cowbell-clanging fans here aren't so passionate where one could possibly serve up tainted room service food to the NBA's best player.

	Food for thought: A Kings fan taunts Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers.

Surely, the real Kobe stopper can't be some guy in a white apron. Or some foul piece of meat, packed away in a hotel freezer.

Did Ruben Patterson get a part-time gig as a hotel kitchen cook? Somehow Bryant got food poisoning -- it could have been the cheeseburger, or maybe it was the cheesecake delivered to his room that had him throwing up most of Sunday night. And with an opportunity literally served up on a platter, the Kings defeated the Lakers 96-90, earning a split of the first two games of the Western Conference finals series and guaranteeing a return to Sacramento next week for Game 5.

Now we have a series. Now we have the possibility of the Kings getting back to 100 percent with the possible return of Peja Stojakovic on Saturday. Now we have Bryant getting a couple of days rest, and surely he'll return on Friday to his usual energy level.

"My guys are going to be upset, and they're going to be pumped going home," promised Shaquille O'Neal, after his team's NBA-record 12-game road winning streak came to an end. "Look for a very exciting Game 3."

With Bryant nowhere near 100 percent (he did score 22 points), O'Neal attempted to carry the load and finished with 35 points and 12 rebounds. But just 12 of those points came in the second half, as the Kings began aggressively attacking Shaq from all angles whenever he put the ball on the floor.

When O'Neal picked up his fourth foul -- an offensive foul crashing into Vlade Divac with 8.7 seconds left in the third -- it appeared to affect his aggressiveness the rest of the game. Three of O'Neal's fouls in the game were offensive, which did not sit well.

"Those who understand the game know what was going on," O'Neal said. "There's only one way you can beat us, and it starts with a 'C' and ends with a 'T.'"

Actually, there are a few ways to put yourself in position to beat the Lakers. One is to have guards capable of attacking the lane, which is what Mike Bibby and Bobby Jackson did on Monday. Bibby didn't shoot the ball particularly well (six of 15 from the field), but he did score 20 points and hit three of five shots in the fourth quarter. Jackson followed his solid play in Game 1 with 17 points off the Sacramento bench in 23 productive, high-energy minutes where he fearlessly attacked the basket.

Another area where the Kings had success: They swung the ball from one side of the court to the other, forcing the perimeter players -- and especially Shaq -- to expend energy by moving. The movement allowed the Kings to attack the basket from the weakside, and created some openings down the center of the lane.

"We've got to be active, we can't allow them to rest," said Kings coach Rick Adelman. "I thought Vlade did a good job of moving out there. Shaq's a guy who'll always be there when you penetrate, and Vlade did some things to make him shift."

In leading by as many as 15 points, the Kings had a chance to hammer the Lakers and give the defending champs something to think about going to Game 3 -- and blew it. Hurt by ill-advised shots and poor free-throw shooting (Sacramento missed 15 of its 38 attempts, with Chris Webber the biggest culprit as he missed eight of his 11), the Kings saw their 15-point fourth-quarter lead reduced to three.

"We were able to creep back in the game, but a couple of 3s wouldn't fall," Bryant said. "They played better than we did. Now let's go home and take care of business on Friday."

For the Lakers taking care of business is with the expectation of having Bryant at 100 percent. While he opened the game by scoring a dunk in the opening minute, Bryant -- who took fluids from IVs leading in the hours before the game -- played without his usual strut. He shot just five free throws for the game, after averaging 7.4 a game during the postseason.

"I tried to pace myself for three quarters," said Bryant, who hit just nine of 21 shots and scored only five points in the fourth quarter -- a quarter that he has owned during the playoffs. "Obviously, if I was healthy I would have played better."

But he wasn't healthy. And on a night where the Kings had 21 assists, the biggest assist may have been delivered by a food server. Or a cook. Or, simply, a bad burger.

Coincidence, coming on the eve of a crucial game?

"Did they ‘spice' up my food a little bit? I don't know, man," Bryant said. "Next time I want a cheeseburger, I'll go to McDonald's."

Jerry Bembry is general editor (NBA) at ESPN The Magazine. He can be reached at Jerry.Bembry@espnpub.com.