L.A. is flat at home to Kings
Los Angeles Lakers lost 116 to 111 to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. They were their worst enemy.
L.A. was leading by 14 in the final quarter. However, they lost their lead in quarter two because they stopped running, rebounding and defending. Sacramento scored the offensive boards. LeBron James and his team made a strong run to close the gap down the stretch.
Yet in the final minutes, the Lakers’ offense slowed to a halt. They tried to milk the shot clock, forcing themselves to take low percentage shots at the end. With 7.0 seconds remaining, Kendrick Nunn made a 3-pointer that pulled the Lakers within one.
The Kings tried to fast-break immediately, but instead of getting back on track quickly, the Lakers committed an obvious path foul against Richaun Holmes. He made both free throws and then fouled Trey Lyles to give Sacramento a 116-112 win.
The Lakers have dropped four of their five last games and have not taken advantage of their home-heavy January schedule. They have also lost three of the four games they play on their current homestand.
LeBron James: B+
James was statistically successful with 32 points and nine assists, eight rebound, eight rebounds, one steal, and one blocked shot. But it wasn’t an efficient night for him, as he shot just 11-of-25 overall and 2-of-9 from 3-point range.
Down the stretch, as the game was there for the taking, James walked the ball upcourt and didn’t attack, instead largely settling for contested outside jumpers near the end of the shot clock.
One has to conclude that James was one of the culprits in L.A.’s loss, as he went just 1-of-7 in the final quarter.
Troy Brown Jr.
Brown played well across the board. Brown finished the game with four points and four rebounds from the field. He also had three assists and two steals.
Thomas Bryant: B
Bryant contributed well to the team with eight points, on 4-of-7 shooting and four rebounds. He also had two assists in 19 minutes.
His minutes have dropped somewhat due to his recent production drop.
Patrick Beverley: D
Beverley was 1-of-4 on the field, and only had three points and two assists in 27 minutes. Defensively, he failed to slow down De’Aaron Fox, who scored 31 points on 13-of-23 shooting and turned things up in the fourth quarter.
Dennis Schroder, D
Schroder is struggling to play after two weeks of playing great. On Wednesday, he was just 2-of-6 and had five points, two assists, and one assist in 26 minutes.
Wenyen Gabriel: B
Gabriel scored 10 points from 5-of-8 shots and grabbed six rebound in 24 minutes. To go with one assist and one steal, he also had one block shot and one steal. After the first quarter, Gabriel scored only six of his 10 point, but his effectiveness plummeted sharply.
Kendrick Nunn: A
Nunn provided the Lakers with the offensive boost they needed from the bench. He made four 3-pointers, and was 5-of-8 overall for 14 points.
Juan Toscano – Anderson B-
Toscano–Anderson made two baskets, two assists, and two rebounds in just 11 minutes of spot duty.
Russell Westbrook: The A-Team
Westbrook scored 19 points on 8 of 17 shooting. This included back-toback 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and seven rebounds, five assists and one steal in just 32 minutes.
His three missed free throws in his four attempts was the only problem, but Westbrook continues making a significant impact for the Lakers without any downside.
Max Christie: B
Christie wasn’t too efficient offensively, shooting 3-of-8 overall and 2-of-6 from downtown, but provided some spurts of energy on both ends of the floor. In 27 minutes, he had 12 points, three rebounds and two steals. He even got to the free throw line for four attempts.