The Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers will square off for the fourth time this season. Having fallen short in all three of their games against the Kings this season, the Lakers will be hoping to change that in this encounter.
LeBron James explained why the Kings have been so challenging for the Lakers lately before the game.
“Obviously, transition plays a significant role. They can guard with great quickness. For many teams, including ourselves thus far this season, that causes a great deal of issues. We need to do a better job of putting our bodies in front of Fox, Monk, and Mitchell so they have to take more contested shoots. In the previous game, we gave Fox ample opportunity to breach the defense with a one-man fast break, particularly in the third quarter.
“They have guard speed and a center that’s got the ability to read all the sets that’s going on and the ability to pass … it’s a combination of a lot of things.”
– LeBron James via Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
All of this was realized by the Lakers in their most recent game, which took place on March 6 and ended with a 130-120 victory for the Kings. It particularly hurt the Lakers, who were outscored 44–20 in the second quarter.
The Lakers outscored Sacramento every other quarter, therefore the second quarter proved crucial to the Kings’ victory. On the other hand, Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, and Malik Monk were all aflame. Fox scored 44 points, Sabonis achieved a triple-double, and Monk scored 26 points.
The Lakers are aware that they need to reduce their output, but if James is off, that could be challenging. Although James’ status for the game is presently labeled as uncertain, the Lakers will be trying to use him to try to climb up the Western Conference rankings.