The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night as part of their preseason tour. The game took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
In spite of missing stars like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Jarrett Vanderbilt, and Cam Reddish, the Lakers were able to pull out a 109-101 victory thanks to a strong performance from the rest of the roster. L.A.’s preseason record is at 2-1.
In the absence of several key players, the Lakers opted to start the youngster Gabe Vincent, who promptly scored five points in his first game. Additionally, Rui Hachimura contributed by scoring 14 points for Los Angeles in the first quarter alone (two 3-pointers and four free throws).
After that, D’Angelo Russell took over and dominated the rest of the first quarter, scoring eight points and dishing out five assists in only eight minutes of action.
However, the Kings closed the quarter on a strong note, as Harrison Barnes sank two 3-pointers and Malik Monk made one to narrow the deficit to just four points, 30-28, after one period of play.
When the second quarter began, the Kings finally took the lead thanks to a three-pointer by Chris Duarte. Vincent and Max Christie answered back for the Lakers with consecutive three-pointers.
The Kings’ stars, De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, got going offensively in the second quarter after a slow start despite the latter’s foul trouble (he picked up three in the first). Even though the Lakers’ Taurean Prince finally made a three-pointer before halftime, the Kings still managed to take a 51-50 advantage into the break.
Fox’s aggression carried over into the third quarter, when he even fouled Russell on a 3-point attempt because he was playing so aggressively on defense. The Lakers’ lead ballooned to 70-62 when Russell hit two more 3-pointers and found another open Prince for a 3-pointer in the corner.
Darvin Ham basically emptied the bench to play the young guys for the final minutes of the game as the Lakers built a double-digit lead late in the third.
On 8 of 12 shooting, Russell had a fantastic game for the Lakers, finishing with 21 points, three boards, and eight dimes. Prince and Hachimura each scored 13, and Vincent added 15 of his own.
By quarter’s end, the Lakers’ young guns had built a comfortable 90-79 advantage. With Max Christie and Maxwell Lewis at the helm, the lead grew even larger in the fourth, eventually reaching 17, which was more than enough to secure a comfortable victory.
