Sacramento Kings crumble in the fourth, fall to Los Angeles Lakers

Despite the ‘Cardiac Kings’ moniker, the Sacramento Kings were anything but in the fourth against Los Angeles.

After a stunning win against the rival-Lakers on Thursday in Sacramento, the Sacramento Kings suffered a painful loss to those same Lakers Sunday night. Despite leading by four heading into the final quarter and holding a two-point lead with 3:32 remaining, the Kings crumbled in the fourth quarter.

The Sacramento Kings shot just 3-11 over the final five minutes from the line and the floor, with one of those buckets coming in garbage time after the result was already set in stone.

Despite a painful loss, much of the game was in Sacramento’s control — save for first quarter and final five minutes of the fourth.

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The first quarter started well for both teams as offense was plentiful and the Kings saw another hot-start offensively from embattled center Willie Cauley-Stein as he shot 3-3 to open the game. Unfortunately for Sacramento, they couldn’t keep pace at the end of the quarter and went into the second down 37-31.

The second and third quarters, however, had things going the Kings way. They opened the second on a 10-2 run and ended the half up four, 68-64. The third saw another hot-start from the Sacramento Kings, as they jumped out to a 81-72 lead, but the Lakers came back to tie things at 85 after they went on an 11-0 run. Still, the Kings led 96-92 at the horn.

The fourth also started well for the Kings, as they led by two possessions for much of first six minutes, then everything fell apart. Shot after shot clanged off the rim, the Kings couldn’t grab rebounds or stop the Lakers and ended shooting 0-3 when the game was within two points and just 1-5 when it was within two possessions, leading to a Lakers win, 121-114.

Takeaways

Buddy Hield just hasn’t had it lately. After trending towards stardom after a blistering stretch of great games, Hield has just disappeared entirely. In his last three games, Hield is shooting just 30.2 percent (13-43) from the field and is averaging just 12.6 points per game. Coincidentally, the Sacramento Kings are 1-2 in those games and will likely continue to drop contests as long as Buddy’s slunp continues.

De’Aaron Fox is a star and you won’t convince me otherwise. Despite suffering from an injured shoulder (an injury he appeared to re-aggravate at the end of the first-half) Fox shot 12-19 for 26 points, four rebounds, seven assists, a block and three steals. He’s becoming a two-way star and could very well be an All-Star this year.

Willie Cauley-Stein’s tenure in Sacramento might be very well coming to an end. As a seven-foot center, being out-rebounded by guards and forwards is an absolute no-go, as was the case in the first-half tonight. For his part, WCS totaled eight fourth quarter rebounds and three total blocks, but the Kings aren’t going to win games with Willie playing how he is.

Bogdan Bogdanovic is the only reason these games have been close lately without Marvin Bagley III. In 33 minutes, Bogi dropped 21 points (including this bomb from three at the end of the third) and nearly outscored the rest of the Kings bench again (21 points to 22 points). Minus Bogdan and without Bagley the Kings bench is an unmitigated disaster. Bogdanovic should get 6th Man of the Year consideration, though that might be wishful thinking.

Next Up: Sacramento Kings (19-17) vs. Portland Trailblazers (20-16) on Tuesday, Jan. 1 at 9 p.m.