Losers of their last five games, the Sacramento Kings needed a victory Tuesday night against their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers.
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Kings got that win – their first in 12 days – by a score of 106-98 at Staples Center, thanks to a strong start on both ends of the court.
The win secured a season sweep for the Kings over the Lakers, the first such sweep in Sacramento franchise history, and pushed the Kings’ record up to 26-40 for the season.
The Kings led from wire to wire, jumping out to an 18-4 lead to open up the first quarter, which ended with Sacramento up 32-15. Tuesday’s hot start was a vast departure from the Kings’ previous games, a loss to the Utah Jazz that saw the Kings fall far behind early.
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A good portion of the Sacramento offense came as a result of the Lakers’ offensive incompetence. The Lakers (14-54) turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter alone and finished with 22 turnovers on the night. The Kings were able to turn those 22 turnovers into 30 points, which allowed Sacramento to jump out to the large early lead.
It wouldn’t be a Sacramento Kings game, of course, without at least a small meltdown. Sacramento watched what was at one point a 23-point lead dwindle down to six points late in the fourth quarter, bringing back memories of a similar late-game collapse against these very same Lakers in January.
Lou Williams (17 points) and D’Angelo Russell (14 points) led the L.A. charge from outside the paint while Julius Randle (14 points, 11 rebounds) cleaned up on the glass to give the Lakers some much needed offensive energy in the second half.
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Just like in that January game, however, the Kings dug deep and pulled out a harder-than-necessary victory. The Sacramento defense clamped down late, and Rudy Gay, who finished with 20 points, scored 7 points in the last three minutes to give the Kings some much-needed breathing room.
Darren Collison, starting in the place of the injured Ben McLemore, went 10-14 from the field to finish with 22 points on the night, tied for the team high with center DeMarcus Cousins.
Cousins scored the bulk of his points from the free-throw line, going 13-15, and scored only one field goal in the first half, making for an odd offensive night from the Kings All-Star.
True to his word, George Karl gave rookie center Willie Cauley-Stein plenty of playing time Tuesday night (32 minutes) and the Kentucky alum put up an 8 points and 7 rebounds for the game. Seth Curry, the other player Karl promised to play more as the season winds down, saw the court for only six largely unproductive minutes.
Up next, for the Kings are the New Orleans Hornets at Sleep Train Arena tonight, an opportunity for the Kings to avenge a recent 115-112 loss.