With just under two minutes left in the first quarter, the Lakers took a 19-point lead over the Kings after D’Angelo Russell connected on a three-pointer. To that point, the Lakers’ defense was energetic and active, and their offense was getting good looks, both in transition off Kings misses and turnovers as well as in the half court. In the NBA, however, the game can turn in an instant and there is no better example of it than what was about to occur.
From that moment of the game forward, the Kings not only clawed their way back into the contest, they seized control to emphatically cut the Lakers lead and, ultimately, built one of their own. After going on a run to cut their deficit to just nine points by the time the 1st quarter ended, the Kings then outscored the Lakers 44-20 in the 2nd quarter to take a 72-57 lead into halftime and never look back.
The Lakers never got to within single digits in those final two quarters and the result was a disappointing and frustrating 130-120 loss that could come back to haunt the Lakers in the western standings chase.
The story of this game ultimately comes down to the Kings perimeter play on both sides of the ball proving too much for the Lakers guards and wings to handle. Offensively, the Kings duo of De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk were brilliant, leveraging their speed in the open court and their quickness coming off screens and handoffs or when working in isolation to create separation in order to get makable shots.
Fox tied a career-high with 44 points, hitting 19 of 32 from the field with an array of slashing drives and open court dashes to the rim where he either finished layups or connected on short jumpers and floaters. After Anthony Davis went to the bench with two fouls before the end of the 1st quarter, Fox was especially aggressive in attacking the rim and found success scoring in both the halfcourt and in transition.
