THE Lakers had a big opportunity in front of them Wednesday night, a chance to put some pressure on Sacramento in the Western Conference, an opening to close in on the Kings as they fight for a spot in the standings.
Instead, the Lakers failed.
And they did it in an incredible way.
They led the Kings by 19 points in the first quarter. They also led the Kings by 22 in the third, a stunning turn of events.
Consequently, the The Lakers fall to 10th place in the West, 2½ games behind the seventh-seeded Kings.
The Lakers are a game behind the eighth-seeded Dallas Mavericks and a half-game behind the ninth-seeded Golden State Warriors.
The season is coming to an end and the Lakers don’t have much time to catch up.
“The cavalry is not coming”, Lakers coach Darvin Ham said after his team fell a 130-120 game to the Kings at Crypto.com Arena. “We have 18 [games] LEFT. We just have to buckle down and try to do a better job.
The Lakers lost all three of their games against the Kings, allowing an average of 129 points per game.
They’ll face the Kings again in Sacramento next week, but the Lakers have already lost the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“We talked about it before the match. We saw the standings and we talked about the team and it’s going to be a big game,” said Rui Hachimura, who had 29 points. “And, like we said, it was a big game. I think we’re going to have one more against them next week. Yeah, that was a big deal.
The Lakers had no answer for De’Aaron Fox, who came through with 44 points.
Domantas Sabonis led the Lakers with a triple-double of 16 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists.
Malik Monk had 26 points and eight assists for the Kings.
Hachimura said the Lakers remain “pretty confident” in their ability to finish the season.
“We just need to lock down,” he said. “We don’t have time to relax, like today’s game. We had a lead of about 20 in the first quarter and all of a sudden we kind of relaxed and they had a lead of 20. We can’t relax all the time.
Lakers bench struggles
The Lakers bench didn’t provide much offense, scoring 18 points as a group. Meanwhile, Sacramento’s bench had 50 points.
Ham has an idea of how his bench can be better.
“Play faster, play the right way,” he said. “Move the ball, shoot it when you’re open. As simple as that. We had games, we had six, seven guys in double figures, and that was the recipe. Play faster, be disciplined in your running habits. Play for each other, play simply and be aggressive.
Lakers forward Anthony Davis tangle with Kings forward Domantas Sabonis for a rebound during Wednesday’s game.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
The Lakers are bad on the boards
The Lakers were outscored 46-34, including 9-3 on offensive rebounds.
Anthony Davis had 11 rebounds, but no other Laker had more than five.
The Kings’ biggest offensive rebound came late in the fourth quarter.
The Lakers were back to 12 points and reduced their deficit. They played good defense and forced Monk to miss a shot.
But Sabonis grabbed the offensive rebound and scored, putting the Lakers in a 14-point hole with 4:49 to play.
