the Lakers They continued their best stretch of the season on Friday night, and separated Sacramento Kings victory ray in a 136-134 victory. The back-and-forth match was the same, with 18 Lead changes and 20 tie, but in the end the Lakers secured victory in the dying seconds.
The victory moved the Lakers to 19-21, back within . 500 and tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for 11th in the standings. Western Conference standings.
The Los Angeles production was balanced. LeBron James had 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, and Dennis Schroeder had game-winning free throws as part of his 27-point tally. Russell Westbrook added 23 points, 15 assists and 5 rebounds off the bench, and followed Thomas Bryant His last show of brilliant productions With 29 points and 14 rebounds.
Sacramento may have lost, but their Stars also played in a game that was in question for the entire 48 minutes. De’Aron Fox scored 34 points and 9 assists, scoring 17 on fourth down alone to keep the Kings in the game. Damontas Sabonis had 25 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists before missing out late in the game thanks to LeBron targeting him throughout the game.
With a lot of players out and about After playing just last nightThe Lakers held on to the same fifth-grade hit against Atlanta in Sacramento. That continuity and production continued on Saturday, as the Lakers scored 37 points in the first quarter alone. Three-point shooting, which was L.A.’s Achilles heel at the start of the season, started as a force of the night, as they shot 66.7% from three points in the first quarter. Sacramento was also good, with Davon Mitchell scoring nine points off the bench to lead the Kings up one point at a time.
The rest of the half was a back and forth affair. Sacramento pulled off a run to start the second half and Los Angeles responded 9-0. Defense was optional and the referees whistle felt inconsistent (20 free throws for the Kings 12 for the Lakers), but after one half of a basketball, the game was deadlocked at 73.
After halftime, the two teams picked up where they left off. The starting five Kings were clicking on all cylinders with every start in double digits, and the Lakers had their current top three players, Bron, Ross, and Dennis, answer every basket in Sacramento. In the closing seconds of the quarter, Bronn’s drive stop kept things going again at 109.
So, three-quarters of absolute parity. Who will win the fourth and final quarter?
was a laker. They went on an 11-2 run to start the frame, as Bryant made mid-range basket after mid-range basket to create some separation between them and Sacramento. Eventually, the Kings settled down thanks to an aggressive Sabonis staying in the paint, and we got back to a two-point game midway through the quarter.
The closing minutes were as exhilarating as any regular season game, and with 48 seconds left, LeBron left a corner kick and not only got the wrong call, but Sabonis misplayed it. Sacramento had the ball to one lead, but Dennis forced his team to hand the ball back to the Lakers. After Ross split a pair of free throws, Fox hit a game-tying basket but had six seconds left on the clock. Dennis drove to the basket and was fouled with 3.6 seconds left and made the pair secure the win forever when Fox (finally) missed a shot in the fourth quarter when the buzzer sounded.
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During this winning streak, the Lakers did everything right. They were a team of top five rebounders and top ten three-point shooters. Maybe the front office kicks the can down the road And don’t look forward to competition, but you certainly can’t say that about the players on the court. They fought from every deficit tonight to get through harsh Winning the second night of consecutive games and we’re right in the chase for playoffs/playoffs as we approach the halfway point of the season.
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