Los Angeles
1st Western Conference52-19
Sacramento
12th Western Conference31-41
NBCSCA, SPECSN
Los Angeles @ Sacramento preview
Golden 1 Center
Last Meeting ( Nov 15, 2019 ) Sacramento 97, L.A. Lakers 99
The Los Angeles Lakers lost in their return to the basketball court on Friday following the death of Kobe Bryant and will try to rebound when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. It was an emotional scene with the Lakers holding a tribute to Bryant and the eight others who died in Sunday's helicopter trash but the Portland Trail Blazers outplayed the Lakers in a 127-119 triumph.
The city of Los Angeles has mourned the death of Bryant, a member of the Lakers for 20 seasons, all week and many tears were shed by players and coaches in the pregame ceremonies prior to tipoff. "We all wanted to win this game very bad but I couldn't be more proud of how hard they played," Los Angeles coach Frank Vogel said afterward. "They've endured a lot this week. It was a heavy and emotional night from the tribute all the way throughout the game. Our guys poured their guts out." Sacramento has won three of its last four games and the club was superb Thursday while posting a 124-103 road win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Kings set a franchise record with 21 3-pointers and held the Clippers to 38 percent from the field while winning by 20 or more points for the third time this season.
TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: Spectrum SportsNet, NBCS California
ABOUT THE LAKERS (36-11): Power forward Anthony Davis was superb with 37 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots against Portland and forward LeBron James added 22 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. All 13 Lakers played in the game during the first half and Vogel said that was by design. "This current group has become a family very rapidly by NBA standards," Vogel said. "We all shared this week. We were all on that plane to hear that news and I wanted to give everybody an opportunity to contribute in this game."
ABOUT THE KINGS (18-30): Point guard De'Aaron Fox recorded a career-best 34 points on 14-of-24 shooting against the Clippers to cap a strong January in which he averaged 22.8 points and 7.6 assists. Though Fox matched his career high for field-goal attempts, he also recorded eight assists in the stellar effort against the Clippers. "I think that's what you have to do if you want to be one of the better players and if I want to help my team win," Fox told reporters of his approach. "Obviously, you still want to choose your spots, but at the end of the day, I feel like when I'm being aggressive, I'm able to get to my spots and either score the ball, get us a good shot or be able to playmake."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Lakers have won three straight meetings and six of the past eight.
2. Los Angeles F Kyle Kuzma recorded 17 points and matched his career best of 15 rebounds in Friday's game.
3. Sacramento backup SG Buddy Hield is 22-of-44 from 3-point range over the past four games.
PREDICTION: Kings 116, Lakers 108