After their first long road trip of the campaign, the Lakers (10-11) returned home Friday night and played in a second consecutive overtime games for the second time this season (the other being Nov. 8 vs Charlotte and Nov. 10 vs Miami). Despite a full-team effort, the Sacramento Kings (8-12) earned the victory, 141-137.
This marks the first loss for the Lakers in overtime games this season as they now hold a record of 4-1.
The ‘Big 360’ were all healthy and played a full game together for the first time since last Friday’s loss in Boston.
Russell Westbrook earned his fifth triple-double of the season with 29 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and two steals in 51 minutes, adding to his historic legacy with career triple-double number 189.
LeBron James led the trio with 30 points and recorded 11 assists to earn his third double-double of the year. He also had seven rebounds and one steal in 50 minutes.
Anthony Davis added 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four blocks and three steals in 49 minutes.
Off the bench, Malik Monk had another terrific outing scoring 20 points to go with five rebounds, three assists and a steal, and Carmelo Anthony hit four of his nine shots from beyond the arc, finishing with 16 points.
It was a low-scoring affair through the first half as the two teams found themselves tied at 43. The third quarter ended in favor of the Lake Show (outscored SAC 35-30), something that has been a rare commodity so far this season.
A tight fourth quarter was pushed into the first overtime after the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox converted a layup with 21 seconds left and LeBron missed a potential game-winning three as time expired.
In the first OT, Los Angeles jumped out to a quick six-point lead and held a five-point lead with about a minute and a half left. The Kings responded thanks to Fox and Buddy Hield’s three-pointer to tie the game with just under 30 seconds left.
AD would hit a contested layup to regain a two-point advantage with nine seconds left, but Hield again would tie the game and LeBron would miss another potential game-winning three as time expired.
Fox and James would trade two-point baskets and the Kings would not get a shot off before time ran out, forcing a third overtime.
The two teams would stay close through the first two minutes of the third OT, but the Kings found the extra energy to pull away and leave L.A. with a four-point win.
Fox led the Kings with 34 points and added eight assists, six rebounds and a steal in a game-high 53 minutes. Off the bench, Hield scored 25 points to go with six assists, four rebounds and two steals in 40 minutes.
The Lakers will turn their attention to the Detroit Pistons, in what should be an intriguing matchup following the two teams previous meeting last Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PT and can be seen on Spectrum SportsNet.