SACRAMENTO — Well, the Lakers simply can’t do anything against the Sacramento Kings. The Kings defeated them on Wednesday night, sweeping the Lakers in four games this season, 120-107.
Austin Reaves started off hot as he scored the first 8 points by the Lakers. Rui Hachimura also got it going for L.A. The Kings backcourt did go on a quick 8-1 run towards the end of the first. Alex Len then surprisingly made a long two before the first quarter buzzer sounded. It was 29-up after 12 minutes.
In the second quarter, Keegan Murray led a long distance assault. In L.A.’s side, Hachimura kept it going as he was nearly unstoppable. Austin made back-to-back threes before Murray and De’Aaron Fox came back with five straight points to give Sacramento a 60-56 halftime lead.
Then the third quarter uglies showed up again for the Lakers. It took them a while to score a field goal; they didn’t make one for 7 minutes and 38 seconds. L.A. looked discombobulated as the Kings took advantage with their usual offensive rush. The Lakers shot poorly (4/14, .286) in that quarter as the Kings outscored them, 28-17. It was 88-73, Sacramento, entering the fourth.
LeBron James and Austin Reaves were able to whittle the deficit down to single digits. But Sacramento couildn’t stop making three-pointers. Harrison Barnes especially set it on fire with four of his own. The Lakers had one final gasp and cut the deficit to 10 points before Fox finally put it away. Sacramento got to light the beam not long after.
It’s that third quarter again. The Kings just have the Lakers’ number. And they didn’t need a big game from De’Aaron Fox. The Kings outdid the Lakers again in second chance points (16-4) and got them in fast break points (16-6).
They didn’t get their usual offense from their stars. LeBron James and Anthony Davis scored lower than usual. But D’Angelo Russell’s offense was damning, especially after he gave a juicy quote about being a killer, per se. D’Angelo is certainly going to get all the smoke now.
But that three-point shooting (which I worry about all the time) was killer against the Lakers. It’s not like the Lakers did bad (14/32, .438) but the Kings just did spectacular (19/41, .463). With that many threes, they didn’t need the usual big game from Fox, who had averaged 36.3 points in the first three games against the Lakers.
Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 28 points. Anthony Davis got going late and ended with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Rui Hachimura did most of his damage in the first half and finished with 20 points. LeBron James had another near-trip-dub with 18-13-9. D’Angelo Russell? A paltry 6 points (2/9 shooting, .222). The Kings were led by Harrison Barnes with 23 points. De’Aaron Fox had a flourish at the end with 21 points while Domantas Sabonis had a triple-double with 17-19-10.
Well, the Lakers got swept by the Kings this season but all they can do is just take that and move on to another four-game home stand. The Lakers are 36-31 and another extended home stand might be good for these guys. It’s just too bad that they blew yet another chance to gain ground on the teams above them.
