Kings basketball returns tonight as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers for the fourth and final time. The Kings are currently coming off two ill-advised victories against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks.
“It’s all about learning how to win, especially for us, the young crew,” rookie Skal Labissiere said after contributing 11 points and seven rebounds. “So it feels good to go out there and get some wins. We’re learning how to close out games.”
The Kings are currently playing for draft positioning at the moment since playoffs are now out of reach. The Kings currently sit on the 12th spot out west.
1st Game– The Kings lost the first matchup at home 101-91 behind a 28 point, nine rebound performance from DeMarcus Cousins. In this game, the Kings shot 8-of-21 from three-point range and had a hard time getting quality shots up.
The Lakers did a good job of hitting their free throws and head coach, Luke Walton, clearly wanted a well rounded game, as he had five players score in double digits.
2nd Game– The second matchup, the Kings won 116-92 at home. Compared to the first game, Darren Collison really came out to play in this one as he had 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor. The Kings did a great job of keeping the Lakers bigs out of the game (Julius Randle and Timofey Mozgov).
3rd Game– A 40-point performance from DeMarcus Cousins helped seal the deal for the Kings as they won a close one, 97-96, at Staples Center. Cousins also went to the free throw line 24 times where he made 13.
“We’re not going to tell our players to go out there and lose,” Walton said. “That’s not what sports is about, that’s not how any of these got here and it’s not right. It’s the players’ job, when they’re on the floor, to play as hard as they can and try to win every game that they can. They did their job (Wednesday) night.”
For the Lakers, the Kings had no answer for Lou Williams as he exploded for 29 on 55 percent shooting from the field. The Lakers struggled offensively only shooting 45 percent from the field.
Don Weir’s Reno Dodge Keys to the game:
Let Buddy be Buddy
Keep Randle away from the glass
Set the tempo early
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