Lakers at Kings: Lakers play valiant game but can’t steal win in Sac

Erik García Gundersen
·2 min read

The Los Angeles Lakers played a pretty good game on Wednesday night but they were unable to make the most important of plays as they fell to the Sacramento Kings, 123-120. Dennis Schröder had 28 points for the Lakers while Montrezl Harrell pitched in 26 points and 13 points but the valiant efforts weren’t enough for the Lakers to survive on Wednesday.

Buddy Hield had a game-high 29 points for the Kings and had several huge shots. Meanwhile, the Lakers had their own great chance to take a lead late in the game but Schröder, Harrell, and Kuzma all missed chances to potentially take a lead to steal a road win.

The Lakers played tough and without LeBron James, Anthony Davis or Marc Gasol almost got themselves a win on the biggest getaway day in the league. While some teams might freak out about where the Lakers are having lost two straight going into the break and losing seven of their last 10, the Lakers are doing just fine with a whole half of the season left to go.

Life Is Good

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

It's hard to feel these things after losing two straight games and seven of 10 but the Lakers are still in a pretty good spot. The Anthony Davis injury is super concerning and the Lakers seem to realize that now, not forcing him back on the court and giving him at least a month. From an impersonal perspective, they need to give Davis as long as they can. the parallels to Kevin Durant's calf injury and subsequent Achilles rupture are too difficult to ignore. So too similar is the importance Davis has on the Lakers' championship hopes. Life is good for the Lakers, don't get it twisted. Marc Gasol will be back soon and the Lakers will have even more firepower to rack up the wins and stay in the top-half of the Western Conference playoff picture. More than anything, the Lakers need to recognize that their goal can't be getting Anthony Davis back as soon as possible. Even though the Lakers lost tonight without LeBron, it was an example that the Lakers just need a healthy LeBron to win most nights during the season. The Lakers role players sent a message to the Lakers staff and management without saying anything, even in a loss: we got this. And make sure AD is really ready when he comes back. You can't rush championship pedigree.

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