When Pat Riley coached the Showtime Lakers in the 1980's, he coined the phrase "no rebounds, no rings" to highlight the importance of being able to close out a defensive possession with the ball when you actually get that initial stop. The Lakers were reminded of truth behind that statement in Sacramento on Sunday night in their 132-127 loss to the Kings in overtime.
Both teams played things to a draw through the first 48 minutes, but in that extra five minutes, it was the Kings who seized control the game, mostly on the strength of their ability to create extra possessions and then make the Lakers pay with those additional opportunities. Sacramento went 5-9 from the floor in the OT period, but grabbed offensive rebounds on two of those four misses, turning both those extra possessions into six points. And, in a five-point loss, those extra chances proved the difference in the game.
On the Lakers side, their ability to force overtime at all showed a certain resolve and ability to claw their way back into another game in which they trailed by double digits early. The Lakers offense couldn't get on track out of the gate, and it was the Kings who took a 41-28 lead after the 1st quarter.
The Lakers did well to stabilize things in the 2nd quarter, however, leveraging a combination of size and skill to keep the game within striking distance. After a strong defensive performance against the Suns on Friday, it was Wood's offense that had an impact when the Lakers needed a boost on that end. Wood would score all 11 of his points in the period, going 3-3 from the field (including two three-pointers) while connecting on all three of his free throws too.
On the back of Wood's scoring, as well as a good push from Anthony Davis (eight points in the quarter), the Lakers would fight their way back into the game and get things to as close as four points, but then a 7-0 Kings run to close the quarter pushed their lead back up to double digits at the intermission.
The game would start to turn in the Lakers favor in the 3rd quarter, with AD again enforcing his presence on the game with a nice mix of inside and outside finishing to help the Lakers inch closer to the Kings. Davis would add another nine points and five rebounds in the period, bringing his total to 24 points and 13 rebounds through three quarters (he'd finish the night with 30 and 16 to go along with two steals and three blocks), while cutting the Lakers deficit down to only four points with a full quarter to go.
With Davis on the bench to start the 4th, the Lakers would need others to help them try to get all the way over the hump and it was a group effort with LeBron, Rui Hachimura, and D'Angelo Russell all putting their hat into the ring to try bring this game home for the Lakers.
Rui was fantastic to start the period, knocking down two jumpers from deep and another pull up jumper from the right elbow out of an isolation attack to score eight of his 11 points in the quarter. Russell, meanwhile, did a little bit of everything offensively, knocking down a three, getting out in transition for a layup, drawing fouls to get to the foul line, and dishing out assists to teammates after having a fairly rough go of things through most of the game. Russell would score nine of his 17 points and hand out three of his nine dimes in the quarter, really giving the Lakers boost.
As for LeBron, he too would score nine points in the 4th, hitting four of his six attempts from the field, including the layup that forced overtime. James was a steady contributor all night -- 27 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists -- but it was in the 4th where he made his biggest impact in the game in helping the Lakers take the lead and then, when absolutely needed, force that extra frame.
The game, however, was not meant to be. As much resolve as the team showed to come back and then force the OT, they simply did not play well enough over the course of the entire game to pull out the win.
Whether it was Austin Reaves struggling to the tune of a 1-12 shooting night, the team missing eight free throws (with LeBron going 2-6 himself), the 20 second chance points they gave up for the game, or being outscored in the paint 56-44, there were just too many areas where the team was not as good as they needed to be against a motivated and hungry Kings team coming off a home loss and backed by a rabid crowd.
There is no rest for the weary, however, as the Lakers will be back in action on a back-to-back Monday night when they return home to face the Orlando Magic.