In what has become a frustratingly frequent occurrence over their current home stand, the Lakers lost another close game to a talented team, this time falling short to the Kings 116-111 on Wednesday night. The loss is the Lakers third in their last four games, but with a margin totaling only nine points over those losses, the team continues to hang tough only to suffer defeat at the end.
The Lakers came out of the gates strong, pouncing on a Kings team without Domantas Sabonis (non-COVID illness) to lead by as many as 14 in the first quarter. The Lakers’ offense was firing on all cylinders, led by LeBron’s early shotmaking, but with multiple others joining the party. The team closed the period up 11 after shooting 65.4% from the floor on a mix of long jumpers and strong finishes in the paint both in the halfcourt via pick-and-roll sets and with their trademarked transition attack.
Things started to turn from there, however. In the 2nd quarter the Kings didn’t just climb back into the game, they’d ultimately close the half with a one-point lead after a well-balanced attack led by De’Aaron Fox. Fox would finish the quarter with nine points but carried the Kings the entire first half by scoring 20 of his team high 31 points in those first 24-minutes.
After a third quarter that saw the Kings grab more control and take an eight-point lead into the final frame, the Lakers did what they’ve done so often of late — they battled back to make the game close.
With LeBron playing more of a distributor role, this time it was the Lakers’ bench who took charge by playing with pace and aggression on both sides of the ball. Russell Westbrook (19 points, seven rebounds, five assists) led the way, but strong contributions from Max Christie, Kendrick Nunn, and Wenyen Gabriel all gave the Lakers the push they needed to climb back into the game.
The team then turned to LeBron to bring them home to a win, and he was almost able to do it. With a 1:10 left in the game and trailing by three, LeBron put his head down and barreled into and through the defense for a layup and a foul — his lone basket on seven attempts in the quarter. His three-point play not only gave him his game high 32nd point (to go along with his eight rebounds and nine assists), but it tied the game and put the team in the position they’d fought so hard the entire quarter to get to.
Alas, it was not meant to be. A possession later, Harrison Barnes got his own basket-plus-the-foul to put the Kings back up three. After a LeBron step-back three to tie missed, a Fox free throw gave the Kings a four-point lead they wouldn’t relinquish. A Nunn three-pointer gave the Lakers one last breath of life, but it simply wasn’t meant to be when a clear-path foul after the Kings inbounded the ball sealed the Lakers fate by giving the Kings free throws and possession of the ball to close out the game.
The Lakers will look to bounce back on Friday when they return to action against the red-hot Grizzlies.
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