The Sacramento Kings (12-15) finally ended their five-game skid and got back into the win column with a 108-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers (8-19).
The win was Ty Corbin’s first as interim-head coach as DeMarcus Cousins was too much for the Lakers bigs as he accounted for 29 points and 14 rebounds in 37 minutes in just his second game since returning from an illness. Ben McLemore and Rudy Gay each drained big three-pointers down the stretch as they finished with 24 and 23 points, respectively.
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There’s always a little extra joy that overcomes a Kings fan when they defeat the Lakers, even in a game between the two as they sit in the lower tier of the Western Conference standings. The rivalry may not be what it once was, or even a tenth, but the fan inside you roots a little harder.
The Kings didn’t trail at all in the first quarter, and the game was only tied for 20 seconds of the first 12 minutes as Darren Collison scored the first five points for the Kings and every Sacramento starter scored in the first seven minutes. Gay was the last starter to get on the board with a jump shot that extended the Kings lead to 17-9 with five minutes to play in the period.
The Kings ended the first up 26-23 as the Lakers closed the quarter on a 7-2 run.
In the second quarter, the Lakers and Kings exchanged leads, but once again the Lakers closed the quarter on a run, this time an 8-1 streak, that gave them a 59-52 half time lead.
Cousins had 15 points and five rebounds at the half. Collison had 12 points and Gay posted nine points and three assists at the break.
The second half would be all Kings for the most-part as they outscored the Lakers 29-20 in the third period and 27-21 in the fourth. In the third, McLemore would lead the Kings with 10 points and Collison would drop five of his own as the Kings held an 81-80 lead heading to the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter the Lakers would take an 89-83 lead with another run of their own, but with LA up 91-90, the Kings would answer with a 9-0 run of their own to take control of the game and that would pretty much be the end of it.
Missed shots and bad plays from Kobe Bryant down the stretch didn’t help the Lakers either as Bryant finished with 25 points (on 8/30 shooting) and nine turnovers. But, the Kings looked like a new team with Cousins in the game down the stretch, as they had no trouble finishing in the fourth quarter, an issue that plagued them in the 10 games Big Cuz missed.
The Kings head down I-80 to take on the Warriors in Oakland tomorrow night.