Lakers fall to Kings in inconsistent loss.
LOS ANGELES — The Lakers' inconsistencies haunted them in Wednesday’s loss to the Kings, falling to Sacramento 116-111 after being outscored 88-72 in the second, third, and fourth quarters combined, dropping their season record to 20-25.
“We are a ballclub with zero room for error. I thought we played pretty good basketball,” said LeBron.
With a solid first-quarter start, up 39–28, and no all-star Domantas Sabonis playing for the Kings, it looked as though the Lakers would take commanding control throughout the game before slowly reverting to the inconsistencies that have plagued them all season. This time, instead of a slow second-half start, it began in the second quarter and continued throughout on its way back into the loss column.
Since Anthony Davis' injury, LeBron has been the Lakers' primary offensive weapon, raising questions about how much the Lakers rely on a 38-year-old LeBron, bringing his usage to a not-ideal level.
“I feel bad about that. We can’t run him into the ground. That was one of my goals coming into the season. He wants to win, we want to win, so you kind of lose sight of the minutes,” said head coach Darvin Ham.
LeBron finished with a game-high 32 points on 11-for-25 shooting overall from the field, notching 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block in 32 minutes of action.
“No matter the fatigue, no matter what’s going on personally, my job is still to go out and perform at a high level, put ourselves in a position to win a ball game.”
Outside of LeBron, the Lakers had 20 points scored by the rest of their starting unit, all combining for 9-for-21 (43%) shooting.
Russell Westbrook was the Lakers' second-leading scorer in Wednesday’s loss to Sacramento, scoring 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the floor, adding 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 31 minutes.
The Lakers will play their next matchup on Friday night against the 31–13 Memphis Grizzlies at 7:00 PM on Spectrum SportsNet and ESPN.
