By the end of the night, it’d seem a little more believable – the Lakers watching as the Sacramento Kings scored a combined 81 points in the second and third quarters in an easy 134-120 win over the short-handed Lakers.
Sacramento led by as many as 23, their fans chanting “Light the beam” in the fourth quarter while Laker fans in Sacramento headed for the exits.
With no Anthony Davis, no Russell Westbrook and no Austin Reaves, the Lakers were going to need to find something special from someone.
The natural place to look, even in season 20, is to LeBron James – still so big, so strong, so springy and so skilled despite being a little more than a week from his 38th birthday.
But pregame, Lakers coach Darvin Ham had another idea.
“These guys got to be ready to step up and make plays, you know? You can’t hide behind LeBron,” Ham said. “LeBron’s going to be LeBron, going to be there for us. Whenever he’s available, he’s going to be out there, trying to play winning basketball. He needs help. Just like they expect him to give them confidence, they need to focus on making plays to give him confidence, to give us all confidence as a team — and not just individuals.
“Everybody has to pull their weight.”
Everybody, plainly, either couldn’t or didn’t. And James? He couldn’t solve all the problems that developed over Wednesday’s game – the Lakers’ 18th loss of the season.
Dennis Schroder was too small for De’Aaron Fox and quickly found himself in foul trouble. Lonnie Walker IV never got into an offensive rhythm. Wenyen Gabriel, the Lakers’ energy off the bench, exited in a blink with his own foul trouble.
Thomas Bryant, the Lakers replacement for Anthony Davis in the starting lineup, missed a layup and didn’t get back on defense, the Kings swinging the ball for an open three. Kendrick Nunn, one of the players granted more of an opportunity because of the Lakers’ injuries, was almost entirely invisible on both sides of the ball.
(José Luis Villegas / Associated Press)
With one fading chance at a comeback in the fourth at stake, Patrick Beverley lost Kings shooter Kevin Huerter for a game-sealing three.
And James’ early effectiveness in the game faded as the score grew wider and wider, the veteran spending the fourth quarter correcting defensive mistakes and trying desperately to get his teammates involved as the game
He finished with 31 points and 11 assists in the loss.
While the Lakers knew they weren’t going to have Davis, they learned mid-day that Westbrook would miss his second-straight game with left foot soreness.
“He could be (back Friday),” Ham said before the loss to the Kings. “We’re just taking it day by day, trying to be as cautious as possible. We don’t want to put him in a position where, if he’s feeling something, then it leads to a bigger issue or a bigger problem. That’s the biggest thing for us, just to get out in front of it.”
Reaves also missed his second-straight with a sprained right ankle, though he said he was hopeful he’d be back soon – though there was still some swelling in the joint.
Davis’ status, other than “out,” is still a mystery – at least with what the Lakers are saying publicly. Asked if Davis would be with the team on their upcoming five-game road trip starting on Christmas, Ham wouldn’t commit.
The team declined to provide any other updates.
“We’ll see,” Ham said. “He’s still going through the evaluation process. We’re still trying to see which course of action we should take, and you’ll know more in the coming days about that situation.”
With him, the Lakers were clawing back towards competency in the West. Without him, they’ve been blown out twice by playoff-bound teams in the West in the Suns and the Kings, allowing more than 130 points in each.
The Lakers host Charlotte Friday in Los Angeles before going back out on the road.