Los Angeles Wins Shootout Against Kings
A night after an impressive win over the Atlanta Hawks, the Los Angeles Lakers headed north to face the Sacramento Kings.
In a good old-fashioned shootout that was gripping from start to finish, the Lakers held on admirably and continued to make big plays to emerge victorious against a playoff-caliber Kings team, 136- 134.
Los Angeles had outstanding balance, as four players scored at least 23 points while shooting 61.0 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range.
The win gives the Lakers a five-game winning streak and moves them within two games of the .500 mark. They are now just 1.5 games out of the sixth seed in the Western Conference, which is currently held by the Los Angeles Clippers.
James showed no signs of fatigue on the second night of a live set. He played 38 minutes and scored 37 points, along with eight rebounds and seven assists.
At times, he attacked the basket and took advantage of a Kings team that lacks shot blocking. With 48.1 seconds left, he drove to the basket, scored and fouled Domantas Sabonis, who hurt the Lakers with 25 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Toscano-Anderson had four points, one rebound, one steal and one blocked shot in 18 minutes. His energy and defensive effort have been helpful, but sooner or later the Lakers will need him to start hitting 3-pointers consistently to open up space for his teammates.
Besides James, Bryant was the MVP of this game.
He’s made a living taking easy spoon-fed baskets at or near the rim, and that led to him shooting 12 of 14 from the floor to score 29 points. He also hit some perimeter shots while grabbing 14 rebounds, and had a pair of crunch-time offensive rebounds that helped seal the win.
Beverley’s defense wasn’t great tonight as Sacramento’s starting guards De’Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter had great games, but he made 2 of 3 shots from the floor (all three field goal attempts were 3s). and finished with six points, one rebound and one assist.
Schroder has been hot lately just when the Lakers needed him. He was 8 of 11 overall, 4 of 5 from 3-point range and 7 of 7 from the free throw line Saturday to finish with 27 points.
He made perhaps the two biggest plays of the night. First, he deflected a field goal with 22.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter, leading to a huge Sacramento turnover. He then drove to the basket and was fouled with 3.6 seconds left, then made two free throws to provide the final margin of victory.
Gabriel had six points and three rebounds in 13 minutes, but struggled to guard Sabonis in the paint. As a result, Gabriel was in foul trouble for most of the night, fouling out with 39.7 seconds left in the third period.
Once again, Westbrook played an excellent and efficient all-around game, shooting 7-of-14 overall and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. His 23 points and 15 rebounds were a big factor in LA’s win.
He could just be playing his way out of the trade, and could even earn a new contract to keep the Purple and Gold if things work out satisfactorily.
A night after his best game of the season, Nunn again became invisible. He had just 14 minutes of playing time and didn’t win, taking just three shots and converting one of them.
Christie was also not a factor on Saturday after contributing well on Friday. He went 1-for-2 and finished with two points and two rebounds in 24 minutes.
The Lakers’ latest addition was two minutes into the game and made no contribution to the stat sheet other than picking up a foul.
Credit: https://lebronwire.usatoday.com/lists/lakers-player-grades-los-angeles-wins-shootout-versus-kings/
