The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night in a game that had massive standings implications with only a handful to go in the regular season.
The Lakers came in having lost both matchups to the Kings earlier in the season, and that continued as Sacramento dominated from the second quarter on to pick up a 130-120 victory.
It was the Lakers that got off to a quick start in this one behind five points from Austin Reaves and a three-point play from LeBron James. Anthony Davis then got in on the action with a three-point play of his own before D’Angelo Russell connected from deep, giving L.A. an early 16-7 advantage.
The Lakers continued pouring it on from there as Spencer Dinwiddie connected from deep and then Rui Hachimura had five straight points to extend the lead to 30-13.
De’Aaron Fox eventually got going though to end the quarter as the Kings went on a run to cut their deficit to 37-28.
Sacramento’s run continued into the second quarter as the Lakers were forced to take a timeout with their lead dwindling to six.
Taurean Prince helped settle the Lakers back in from there with a 3-pointer and then James had a monster poster dunk. Malik Monk did a nice job of provided a spark off the bench for the Kings though as they continued to chip away, eventually taking a 50-48 lead with the Lakers struggling offensively.
The Kings stayed hot from there, hitting a trio of triples to open up a double-digit lead of their own. The Lakers defense seemingly could not get a stop the entire second quarter with Fox and Monk taking turns abusing different players. After Fox beat the halftime buzzer, the Lakers went into the locker room trailing 72-57.
Sacramento immediately extended its lead to 20 to start the third quarter before the Lakers rattled off six straight. After a smart Kings timeout though, they continued dominating as Davis picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench, which meant that Fox was able to get to the rim with ease.
The Lakers finally started showing some life towards the end of the third quarter with James attack the basket to get the deficit down to 12. That’s where it stayed to end the third as the Lakers went into the fourth quartern trailing 104-92.
With James on the bench to begin the fourth, the Kings quickly built their lead back to 17. The Lakers eventually brought LeBron back in to make one last run and they were able to get it down to 12 with around five minutes to play.
The Kings responded out of the timeout though, putting the game away without any issues.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers’ tough homestand continues with a matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday and then the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
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