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The Los Angeles Lakers lost their first home game of the 2023-24 NBA campaign on Wednesday night — and it was not pretty. Anthony Davis' team trailed by as much as 26 before a fourth-quarter comeback came up short in a 125-110 defeat at the hands of the Sacramento Kings.
It certainly wasn't Davis' best game — he scored just nine points on 3-of-9 shooting, adding nine boards, an assist and four blocks in the loss.
“I just played bad,” the superstar admitted afterwards. “I'm not going to put it on anything. It was just missed shots. … I’m still treating it every day. Obviously, you don’t get that day to really attack it [when playing] back-to-back. It was still bothering me a little bit, but I’ve still got to go out there and do my job.”
Despite maybe the worst game of the season for the big man, teammate Austin Reaves came to his defense in the Arkansas native's post-game presser.
“Everybody else around AD could do more to help AD. Not that he necessarily needs it, but just to make his life easier,” Reaves explained, per Lakers Nation. “I'll have to go back and watch the game to see what we could've done better around him.”
Reaves was very solid himself on Wednesday, coming within a point and two assists of a triple-double. He finished with nine points, 11 rebounds and eight helpers, along with a steal.
Kings have Lakers' number
Wednesday's game marked the third time the Kings have beaten the Lakers in a row. Domantas Sabonis led the way with 29 points and 16 rebounds, while De'Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter added 28 points apiece for Sacramento.
“Got out to a great start,” Huerter, who knocked down six longballs in the win said, via ESPN. “We established ourselves offensively, got out in transition, played fast. I don’t think we maintained it the rest of the game, but shows what we’re capable of when we’re playing at that level.”
After winning three games in a row, Los Angeles fell to 6-6 and eighth place in the Western Conference after the defeat. Not even LeBron James' 108th career triple-double could keep the Lakers close.
“Whenever we get stops [and] we take care of the ball, we’re usually fine,” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham reflected, per AP. “I know the amount of scoring that we have on our team, particularly those five guys that finished for us. You’ve got to give them a chance to see what we can do. Maybe some turnovers, missed shots on their part, you can dig into the lead and make it a game, and I thought we did that.”
Los Angeles will look to bounce back against the Trail Blazers in Portland on Friday night.
