Close but no cigar: Lakers down the Kings 121-114 Sunday night at Staples

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings starting five @SacramentoKings

The Sacramento Kings goal of winning back-to-back games from the Los Angeles Lakers went up in smoke in the final minutes of the contest on Sunday night when the Lakers went on a 12-0 run. The Lakers, even without LeBron, went on to defeat the Kings 121-114 in the final game of 2018 for Sacramento.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope recorded a season-high 26 points, while Josh Hart added 22 points. Brandon Ingram joined the party by putting in 21 points, including seven points in the final run that decided the game.

The Kings lost for the first time this season when they held the lead going into the fourth quarter.

This was a very entertaining game

Bogdanovic to the hoop @SacramentoKings

This was the kind of game the NBA would like to have every night:

• There were 18 lead changes
• The game was tied 13 times
• The Kings outscored the Lakers 58-52 in the paint — it was a battle
• The Lakers won the war of second chance points 20-9
• The Kings put up 27 fastbreak points to 12 for the Lakers
• The biggest lead of the game: Kings 11, Lakers 9

The Kings were led by their backcourt in the game

• De’Aaron Fox tied for high-scorer in the game with 26 points and he dished out seven assists. Fox grabbed four rebounds and made three steals.
• Buddy Hield scored 21 points in the game, shooting 7-for-17 in the contest. He hit 4-of-11 from behind the arc.
• Bogdan Bogdanovic also put up 21 points by shooting 9-for-18 from the floor (3-for-6 from 3-point land).

Other Kings contributors

• Willie Cauley-Stein recorded a double-double, scoring 11 points and hauling in 12 rebounds
• Iman Shumpert scored eight points, but did not have a great shooting night
• Yogi Ferrell also put up eight points in just over eight minutes of playing time

Team Stats

Kings

• The team shot 48.4-percent (46-for-95) from the field
• They went 13-for-34 (38.2%) from 3-point land
• They were outrebounded 50-45
• Sacramento made 14 turnovers that resulted in 16 Laker points

Lakers

• LAL shot 46-for-95 from the floor (48.0-percent)
• The Lakers hit 15-of-44 3-point shots (34.1%)
• LA recorded 30 assists versus the Kings
• Caldwell-Pope’s 26 points were a career-high

Up Next

The Kings (19-17) will host the Portland on New Year’s Day at the Golden 1 Center.

The Lakers (21-16) will welcome the Thunder to the Staples Center on January 2nd.