LeBron James reacts to the Los Angeles Lakers losing to the Sacramento Kings.
The Los Angeles Lakers dropped their third straight game on Monday, losing to the Sacramento Kings, 124-112.
LeBron James had 22 points, four rebounds, and three assists, but also turned the ball over three times and went 0-5 from three. The Kings shot 59% from the field and an absurd 65% from three, making 17 of their 26 attempts.
After the game, LeBron weighed in on what went wrong.
"Defensively, I think we played solid defense," he said. "They made a bunch of threes. We didn't make many. We had our game plan, we executed our game plan. Tonight was one of those cases where we didn't make shots. You gotta make shots. We didn't make shots. We got some very good looks. I got great looks. We just gotta knock them down. We didn't."
Chasing The Game
The Lakers jumped out to a 19-10 lead, but found themselves trailing 28-32 at the end of the first quarter. They went down 20 with seven minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, but managed to get the lead down to seven with eight minutes left in the game.
That was as close as they got.
"We were fighting uphill. Except for the first eight minutes of the game, we were fighting uphill. Trying to get multiple stops in a row, but any shot they make, especially from three, is going to feel like a backbreaker," said LeBron.
Luka Doncic was the only Lakers starter to hit from three, and even he only went 2-9 from deep. LeBron, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart combined to go 0-13.
Kings Hot Shooting Night
The Lakers defense has played well in recent losses, giving up just 107 points to the San Antonio Spurs and 105 points to the Milwaukee Bucks. The offense just didn't have enough in those contests.
Against the Kings, despite LeBron believing the team played solid defensively, the Kings shooting numbers beg to differ.
DeMar DeRozan went 14-19 from the field for 32 points, living in the paint and around the free-throw line all game as the Lakers failed to make him uncomfortable.
Former Laker Russell Westbrook had 22 points, including hitting 4-8 from three. Teams will live with Westbrook shooting from beyond the arc, though he is hitting at a career-high 34% from three this year.
Then there was Malik Monk, who had 26 points off the bench, including 7-9 from three. Monk hasn't shot below 43% from three since his second season in the league, and once he gets hot, he's tough to cool off.