LeBron James (18 PTS, 13 REB, 9 AST) and Anthony Davis (22 PTS, 10 REB) faced the media to explain the Lakers’ 107-120 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost their fourth game of the season to the Sacramento Kings, falling to a 107-120 loss last night. The two stars of the Lakers, LeBron James and Anthony Davis spoke to the media after the loss to explain what went wrong.
LeBron admitted that the Kings just have the Lakers number this season.
“Offensively, we just couldn’t get it going and they did. Really good team, they have our number this year, for sure.”
James was critical of the team for giving up multiple offensive rebounds which led to three-point shots, calling those moments demoralizing.
“When you stop an offensive team like that and they get a second chance on a kick-out, those are the ones that are kinda demoralizing. When you play 24 seconds of great defense, the ball bounces off the rim, and they get the offensive rebound to hit a three. Those are the ones that kill you.”
Anthony Davis spoke to the media and broke down the challenges the Lakers failed to overcome during the game, including their turnovers and sloppy rebounding.
“It’s frustrating, especially the last two games… We came out of halftime and couldn’t put the ball in the basket. Tough turnovers, especially to start the third. We got some easy look. We were down four and it went to like 12 pretty quickly. We have to come out of the half ready to go. We all struggled from the field, especially me… You don’t want to give a team like this any extra points, but when we give it up through offensive rebounds and turnovers, it’s a lot tougher.”
Davis seemed extremely frustrated after the loss, especially because what went wrong for the Lakers was entirely controllable.
“Any loss is frustrating, especially when you allow a team to beat you because of your mistakes. Turnovers, offensive rebounds, miscues on defense, communication… We allowed a team to beat us. We can’t allow a team to beat us.”
Anthony Davis scored 22 points with 10 rebounds on poor efficiency tonight. LeBron had 18 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists, looking disengaged until the fourth quarter when his nine points on four shots were too little too late for the team.
This loss keeps the Lakers in the No. 9 seed as rival teams like the Mavericks and Kings further extend their gap over them with wins tonight. They’re 36-31 this season and lost all four games to the Kings.
Anthony Davis Is 0-10 Against Domantas Sabonis
Tonight’s loss marked the tenth loss that Davis has suffered while facing Domantas Sabonis in his career. The Lakers center is yet to register a win over Sabonis in his career, going 0-10 so far. He complimented Sabonis in his post-game interview but didn’t comment on the dubious head-to-head record.
“He’s a physical player. Just try to match his physicality, and make him try to take a lot of tough shots. He just hurt on the glass… Offensively is where we try to limit him from getting offensive rebounds. We’ve got to live with that. But he’s an All-Star, has been an All-Star. He’s a great player.”
Davis might have outscored Sabonis on the night, but everyone knows Sabonis dominated the matchup. He ended the night with 17 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists, hurting the Lakers in every possible way. His defense on Davis was solid too and was one of the main keys behind the victory for the Kings.