Sloppy Kings Fall to Lakers

A late-game prayer from Nik Stauskas wouldn’t fall for the rookie and the Sacramento Kings (11-11) would fall to the Los Angeles Lakers (6-16) 98-95. Kobe Bryant free throws prior would end up sealing the game for the Lakers as the sloppy Kings once again blew a late-game lead and collapsed down the stretch.

Weary legs, 65% free throw shooting, 16 turnovers and the Kings bench being outscored 37-18 all played a crucial part in the Kings loss. Darren Collison dropped 26 points and Rudy Gay finished with 23. Bryant would only shoot 11-27 but scored 21 points in the second half as he led the Lakers to the win.

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On their fourth game in five nights, the Kings started the game scoring the first six points. The Kings kept the lead for most of the quarter and it was 25-20 Kings before Nik Stauskas came in and hit his first jumper of the game, building off of his momentum from last night. The Kings would go into the second quarter with a five point lead after Nick Young aka Swaggy P drained a three and got the foul for a four-point play.

The Lakers kept the baskets coming to start the second, going on a 11-0 run that spanned the end of the first to take the lead. A pair of Ryan Hollins free-throws would tie it up at 31. A lack of defense from either team’s bench unit would keep the game going back-and-forth.

Ben McLemore scored eight points in the last 3:26 as he led the Kings on a 14-6 run to close the period. The Kings led 55-46 at half. McLemore finished the half with 13 points, Collison with 11 and Gay with 10, respectively. Reggie Evans also added six points and 10 boards. Aside from the Kings bench being outscored by 10, Sacramento maintained control of the game for most of the half.

After maintaining their nine point lead for the first couple of minutes, the Kings welcomed their old friend turnovers back into the game and allowed the Lakers to trim the lead to four with under nine to play in the third. A pair of threes from Gay and Collison extended the lead to 10 for Sac.

With a 67-55 lead and over seven minutes to play, Bryant woke up and connected for the 10 of the Lakers next 12 points to drop the Kings lead to two at 69-67. Coach Mike Malone was forced to call a timeout as the Black Mamba was in attack mode.

After the Lakers tied the game up at 73, the Kings were able to close the third with a three point lead, 81-78.

The Kings started the fourth quarter with another turnover, their 14th of the game, but then stretched their lead to 86-79 as the Lakers called a timeout. A lack of rebounding and more wonderful turnovers allowed the Lakers to tie the game on a Kobe dunk and wide open three.

After Collison split a pair of free throws and Jordan Hill got an easy layup, the Lakers were able win the late-game scoring duel to get the victory.

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