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Lakers News: Kings Speak Loudly In Los Angeles, Beat L.A. 120-114

L.A. drops its fifth straight loss for the second time this year.

Alex Kirschenbaum

In this story:

On Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, albeit without LeBron James, your Los Angeles Lakers were their own worst enemy. The club coughed up late leads with head-scratching decision-making down the stretch of both halves to fumble away a winnable home game against the Sacramento Kings, ultimately losing 120-114.

This victory marks the Kings' second straight win, and their fifth win in their past seven games. Sacramento improved to a 5-6 record on the year, good for 10th in the West. L.A., meanwhile, lost its fifth consecutive game, for the second time in 12 contests. The team slid to a 2-10 record on the year, good for... the worst record in the NBA (tied with the Houston Rockets). 

Let's review.

With James out, head coach Darvin Ham started Wenyen Gabriel at power forward, rather than shifting Anthony Davis to the four spot (his preferred position) and inserting Damian Jones into the starting lineup at center.

Anthony Davis (17 points on 6-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds in the first half) and Russell Westbrook (10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and five assists in the first half) catalyzed the Lakers' reasonably good performance through the game's first two quarters overall. 

During the first half, Davis was able to at least get his numbers against his Sacramento Kings counterpart, two-time All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis, as he did here:

Westbrook was pretty sloppy with the ball all night, however. Check out this brutal turnover coming off a Damian Jones screen early in the second quarter:

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They were actually leading by 11 points, 59-48, with 36.4 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Then things went south.

De'Aaron Fox made a 14-foot jumper within five seconds of L.A. reaching that 59-48 margin, cutting the lead to single digits. Westbrook promptly lost the ball thanks to a Kevin Huerter steal. The Kings shooting guard dashed to the other end and converted a layup. Westbrook next coughed up his second turnover of the quarter's closing 16.4 seconds after a poor pass was picked off by Kings power forward Harrison Barnes. Westbrook then had another foul, his second in the second quarter's closing 36.4 seconds, and Fox converted the subsequent free throw. After that, Fox nailed a three-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining on the shot clock to bring the Kings within four at the break, 60-56.

In the second half, Davis and Westbrook's shotmaking took a nosedive. The went just 4-of-17 from the floor during the game's last two periods, although both went to the line a decent amount and connected on most of their free-throw looks.

The Kings slightly outscored L.A. in the third quarter, 31-28. Los Angeles took a tenuous one-point advantage into the fourth and final frame of regulation. That's when De'Aaron Fox took over, scoring 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and chipping in four assists that led to a total of nine additional points for Sacramento.

Los Angeles actually was leading the Kings late in the fourth quarter, after a Russ trey put L.A. up 114-112 with 2:13 remaining in regulation.

Here's that triple:

Unfortunately, a string of fouls and turnovers from Westbrook, and missed jumpers from everybody, doomed the Lakers late. The team would not score another point the entire game, while letting Sacramento go on an 8-0 closing run.

The Kings' defense made a point to trap Davis during the game's final two minutes, as the team clearly was unafraid of the (admittedly bad) shooting of the Lakers' wings:

Is this what you'd call "quintuple-team" coverage?

Davis finished with a 24-point, 14-rebound double-double. Westbrook had an inefficient 21-point, 11-assist double-double of his own. But he also had five turnovers and five personal fouls. Shooting guards Lonnie Walker IV and Austin Reaves continued to impress for L.A., as each scored 19 points.

De'Aaron Fox is really starting to look like the star he's paid to be. He scored 32 points (while going 13-of-19 from the field), dished out a season-most 12 assists, pulled down seven rebounds, and snagged two steals.

Watch him swipe Austin Reaves's soul with this one:

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Domantas Sabonis had 21 points (on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor), 10 rebounds, and 6 assists last night, right in line with the 21.6 points on 56.7% field goal shooting, 10.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists he is averaging through his first five November games. Kevin Huerter chipped in 16 points for Sacramento.

The Lakers will have a chance to redeem themselves Sunday against the 5-7 Brooklyn Nets, who have been playing much better under new head coach Jacque Vaughn (and without still-suspended starting point guard Kyrie Irving).

Published
Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Basketball is Alex's favorite sport, he likes the way they dribble up and down the court.

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