Lakers still can't slow down Kings
THE SCORE KINGS 120, LAKERS 107 Lakers at Warriors, Saturday, 5:30 p.m., Ch. 7
SACRAMENTO » The Lakers have shown throughout the season that they'll raise their level of play in big-time games.
That wasn't the case in Wednesday's 120-107 loss to the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center — a matchup that had significant implications in the Western Conference standings.
Despite having the rest advantage, with the Kings playing on the second night of a back-to-back set after beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday and the Lakers having two days off, and having just played last week, the Lakers once again didn't have the solutions to slowing down the Kings.
Uncharacteristic off shooting nights from LeBron James (18 points on 6-for-16 shooting 13 rebounds, nine assists and Anthony Davis (22 points on 7-for-18 shooting, 10 rebounds, three assists) didn't help, with the Lakers lacking offensive firepower outside of strong performances from Austin Reaves (28 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Rui Hachimura (20 points on 9-for-11 shooting).
D'Angelo Russell (six points on 2-for-9 shooting) also struggled.
What's become clear is that the Kings (38-27), just like the Denver Nuggets, have the Lakers' number and are a bad matchup for them.
With Wednesday's loss, the Lakers have dropped the last five matchups against Sacramento dating back to last season, and eight of the last nine.
The Kings created issues for the Lakers defensively similar to what they did in last Wednesday's 130-120 victory in Los Angeles.
But instead of inflicting their damage from inside the paint, the Kings made the Lakers pay from beyond the arc, making 19 of 41 3-pointers (46.3%) against an L.A. team that was slow with closing out to shooting all night.
Harrison Barnes led Sacramento with a team-high 23 points, including seven 3s. Domantas Sabonis had a triple-double of 17 points, 19 rebounds and 12 assists, extending his double-double streak to 48 games.
De'Aaron Fox had 21 points and seven assists. All five Kings starters scored at least 14 points.
The Lakers kept getting in their own way with selfinflicted wounds, turning the ball over 14 times.
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Fox sealed the Kings' victory with a 3-pointer off an assist from Sabonis with 57.2 seconds left, giving Sacramento a 118-105 lead.
Coach Darvin Ham called a timeout following the 3 and took his rotation players out.