Rookies shine despite blowout loss as Kings battle Lakers stars. Clifford's scoring and Raynaud's double-double offer glimmers of hope.
The Sacramento Kings concluded their 5-game road trip on the receiving end of a 128-104 blowout defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.
This night was all about development for the Kings' rookie duo Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud. Head coach Doug Christie played the former for 42 minutes and allowed the young shooting guard to take command of the offense.
Clifford finished with an efficient 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists on 11-for-18 shooting from the field. His impeccable footwork and patience were on full display while assuming point guard duties.
Raynaud ended his outing with a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double on an 80% field goal percentage.
DeMar DeRozan was more timid than usual as a shot-creator, but he'd notch a season-high 8 assists through three quarters of play to pair with 9 points and 4 rebounds.
Los Angeles' superstar duo of Luka Dončić (28 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds) and LeBron James (24 points, 5 assists, 2 steals) took over from the opening tip, propelling their squad to a 36-18 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Sacramento decided to throw a plethora of bodies at both Dončić and James throughout the evening, and a few Kings had great individual stands against the pair of future Hall of Famers.
It took a village to try and slow Dončić down, as he saw Clifford, two-way signee Daeqwon Plowden, 10-day contract signee Patrick Baldwin Jr. and others on his way to a magnificent performance.
The ex-Golden State Warriors draft pick Baldwin Jr. stood out early on for his effort against James. He'd force a miss from the 4-time NBA champion as the first quarter buzzer sounded and alter another of James' shots right under the rim.
Baldwin Jr. made a great case for Christie to stick with him as a worthwhile reclamation project after a 3-point, 6-rebound, 3-block performance in only 11 minutes of work.
The Kings did some work to cut Los Angeles' lead down to 15 points by the halftime break, trailing 64-49. However, chippiness endured in the second quarter despite Dončić's arch-enemy Dennis Schröder's departure from Sacramento via trade.
After a no-call on a Precious Achiuwa (8 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks) breakaway layup attempt, Malik Monk (10 points, 2 assists) was irate, landing a technical foul. Another dust-up would ensue between Los Angeles' Maxi Kleber, Russell Westbrook, Monk and others.
It would appear to fuel Westbrook, and the 2017 MVP winner poured in 14 points with 5 assists and 4 boards before the final buzzer sounded.
Los Angeles shot 46.2% from three-point range as a collective, and their hot shooting helped them increase their advantage once the Kings managed to trim the lead down to 11 in the third quarter.
Dončić began to pair his long-range shooting with his mastery of the pick-and-roll soon after, hitting both Jaxson Hayes (4 points, 5 rebounds) on pristine lob passes and Luke Kennard (11 points, 5 assists) for timely hits from distance.
The Lakers forced 20 Kings turnovers and scored 27 points off of those turnovers, with Raynaud as the culprit for six of those giveaways.
After scoring 32 points in both the third and fourth quarters, Sacramento was effectively ran out of the building and handed a loss to fall to a 14-48 record.
Sacramento maintains the NBA's worst record, but a Tuesday night matchup against the surprising Phoenix Suns offers the team a chance to regroup back at Golden 1 Center.
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