Every time Los Angeles Lakers fans feel the revival of their beloved team, coach Darvin Ham and his team have a bad match.
The Lakers’ series of sublime days, including a victory over the top team Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this week, was stopped by a difficult 120-130 defeat against the Sacramento Kings.
This loss not only made it difficult for the Lakers because the Kings were a direct competitor in the Western rankings, it also came even though the LA team at one point led the opponent by 19 points.
To make things worse, LeBron James was hurt and couldn’t finish the game. Coach Darvin Ham was forced to call a conference call for the No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers star to leave the field and limp straight to the locker room due to a recurring ankle injury.
Despite leaving the court early, the current oldest player in the NBA still pocketed 31 points (10-16 FG, 10-10 FT) and 13 assists.
This is the injury that has plagued LeBron throughout this season, creating a very worrying image for fans of the yellow and purple team. However, James himself spoke up to reassure.
“I’ll probably be fine,” LeBron James shared. “My ankle injury came back, a problem I’ve had for a while now. I’ve been trying to recover from therapy since before All-Star and now I’m perfecting it.”
Speaking more about the relapse, the Lakers star said: “Some games I have it, some games I don’t. The day before against OKC, I felt fine. Today, until the end of round 3, I still felt fine, but in round 4, it became uncomfortable.”
Before having problems in the final round, LeBron James was extremely fine in the first three rounds. The proof is that the dunk will definitely be among the most beautiful dunks of the season on the head of striker Alex Len.
LeBron James’s re-injury was not the reason why the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Sacramento Kings. Everything started very well when James and his teammates led 38-17 at the first half (19 points difference).
The turning point came when Anthony Davis had a personal foul problem and the coach withdrew him to the bench. De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk immediately took advantage of this to attack, bringing Sacramento back into the game with a 30-11 run, equalizing the match score.
It seemed like the Lakers would wake up, but they had no answer on both offense and defense. On the other side of the field, Kings continued to flourish and took a 97-77 lead midway through the third quarter.
From a good start and a deep lead, the Los Angeles Lakers lost everything and had to suffer a humiliating defeat right at Crypto.com’s home field. Fans have many times booed the yellow and purple team, especially during the period when the Lakers let the Kings eliminate the gap and take the lead.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ performance is not too bad with 10 wins in the last 15 matches. But in the sprint phase of the Regular Season, coach Darvin Ham and his team need every single win to hope to improve their rankings.
Because the Sacramento Kings are the Lakers’ direct competitors in the race for the top-7, this defeat is more than just a loss. It also causes the LA team to lose their advantage against the Kings (who have lost 3 out of 4 matches this season) in case the two teams have equal records.
The Lakers’ next four opponents are all Playoffs teams including the Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, rematch of the Sacramento Kings and encounter with the Golden State Warriors.
