LOS ANGELES — Emphatically, the Lakers’ winning streak is over.
The Sacramento Kings ransacked the Lakers’ house and never lost the lead after they got the first points. The final score was 125-110.
I’m going to go back to the game preview to pretty much describe what happened in this contest:
“So like Memphis, the Kings put up a lot of threes (third in attempts). But these guys (while in the middle in the pack in offense), unlike Memphis, are a dynamic offensive team. They’re not afraid to go into the paint (especially Fox). They’ll also exploit the Lakers’ weakness: second chance points. The Lakers have to be alert at all times with this vigorous Kings team.“
The way the Kings built the lead? A lot of three-pointers. They made 16 in the first three quarters. We talked about the paint and even though Anthony Davis was inside (more on this later), the Kings weren’t fazed by his presence in the paint. Sacramento had a 54-50 advantage. And to no one’s surprise, the Kings had a major lead in second chance points: 16-6.
Sacramento led by as many as 26 points. But the Lakers did have one spirited rally in the fourth that cut the deficit down to single digits. It helped that the Kings didn’t make a single three in the fourth period. But the Lakers ran out of gas at the end, though.
Davis didn’t look like himself as his hip seemed to bother him all game. Domantas Sabonis took advantage of that as he had a huge game. But Sabonis had a lot of help from De’Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter could’ve made all the rooms dark because he shot all the lights out.
The Lakers lacked a lot of energy throughout the game except for that final rally. Even still, that lethargy cost them and it showed with their bad decisions with the ball. Giving the high-powered Sacramento Kings 23 extra possessions is probably not a good idea.
It’s really too bad because we thought they had the ideal game against Memphis on Tuesday. LeBron James and Anthony Davis rested the fourth quarter and yet the Lakers came out like they literally just got out of bed. It didn’t help matters that Davis seemed to tweak that bad hip of his.
The son of Arvydas Sabonis went for 29 points, 16 boards, 7 assists, and three steals. De’Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter each scored 28 points. LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell also each scored 28 points but Bron got a triple-double (10 rebounds, 12 assists). It was actually quite a night for LeBron:
A historic night for LeBron 👑
— NBA (@NBA) November 16, 2023
– 28 PTS, 10 REB, 11 AST
– Moves to 8th all-time in 3PM
– Moves to 5th all-time in triple-doubles
– Becomes the 2nd oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double pic.twitter.com/rALlGvwNnh
Cam Reddish scored 16 points as he continues his impressive run. As for Davis? 9 points, 9 rebounds, and four blocks. Hopefully, the rest will do him good before the Lakers play their third game for the In-Season Tournament in Portland, Oregon.
Hopefully, the Lakers can start another win streak then. And get back above .500 while they’re at it.
