The Los Angeles Lakers were always going to face an uphill climb on Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings, with that game being the second of a back-to-back set for the Purple and Gold. LeBron James, despite sustaining an injury that kept him out during the weekend, put up a valiant effort, dropping 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists during their 125-110 defeat.

The Lakers simply did not get off to the best of starts against the Kings; it was clear which the more rested team was, with Sacramento taking a huge lead in the first quarter and not looking back from there. James brought down the deficit to single digits to end the game with a scoring binge in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough for the Lakers to mount a comeback.

Now, all the Lakers can do is take whatever lessons they can from this defeat; for head coach Darvin Ham, taking care of the basketball in a much better way is imperative for the team moving forward in light of their dispiriting performance against the Kings.

“I think, when you turn the ball over early, I think we had seven in the first quarter, giving them 16 points, it's pretty hard. Damn near impossible to get your defense set up. Young team like that's predicated on playing fast, running fast, taking advantage of opportunities like that, self-inflicted wounds really hurt us early, particularly in the first quarter,” the Lakers head coach said in his postgame presser, per Spectrum SportsNet.

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The Kings, indeed, turned the game into a track meet early on in the game, and with livewire guards such as De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, the Lakers couldn't afford to give them free reign to run wild in the fastbreak game. Even in the fourth quarter, with the Lakers mounting a comeback, a few turnovers gave the Kings the requisite cushion to finish out the impressive victory.

In the end, the Lakers finished with 23 turnovers as a team, with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Austin Reaves combining for 15 of those giveaways. This simply cannot continue, especially when taking into account their ambitions for this season.