What we learned when Kings squandered big Fox, Domas games in loss to Lakers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – Domantas Sabonis recorded his NBA-leading 25e double-double of the season, but the Kings’ offense went flat in the final 60 seconds and Sacramento lost to the Los Angeles Lakers for the second time in three days, falling 103-99 on Saturday at the Golden 1 Center.
Sabonis had 19 points, 19 rebounds and five assists to move past Arnie Risen for seventh on the Kings franchise charts with 179 career double-doubles.
De’Aaron Fox had 31 points, five rebounds and seven assists for the Kings, who fell to 13-16. DeMar DeRozan scored 12 points, while Keegan Murray added 10.
Sacramento fell behind early and played catch-up most of the afternoon, but pulled within 101-99 on Sabonis’ three-point play with 1:11 minutes remaining.
With the Golden 1 Center crowd on its feet, the Kings were unable to complete the comeback, despite the Lakers missing three of four free throw attempts in the final twelve seconds.
These are the conclusions from Saturday’s match:
Fox flows
The Kings point guard, whose name has come up in recent trade rumors, continued to show why his popularity is rising in the NBA. Fox was Sacramento’s leading scorer in each of the first three quarters, reaching deep into his bag of tricks to score against the bigger and more aggressive Lakers.
Fox, who had one of his better shooting games while knocking down 12 of 17 shots, has scored 20 or more points in each of his last three games and nine of the past 11.
boffended by LeBron
James did whatever he wanted against the kings and met little resistance. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer was particularly effective in the key, repeatedly lowering his shoulder and crashing into defenders to clear a path to the hoop.
One observer said the Kings were too soft, but the issue goes deeper than that. The defense was often too slow to rotate and assist, leaving James in some ridiculous one-on-one games. When Sacramento doubled him, LBJ quickly kicked the ball to an open shooter.
QTime for Keon
With Malik Monk a fixture in Mike Brown’s starting lineup, Keon Ellis has taken over the title of the Kings’ most critical and effective player off the bench.
Ellis doesn’t offer much offensive power, but his willingness to play defense and do whatever it takes makes him stand out.
At one point in the third quarter, the 6-foot-1 guard made a clean steal and swiped the ball away from Lakers’ 6-foot-1 forward Anthony Davis. Ellis finished with just five points but two rebounds, one assist and two steals in 14 minutes.
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