The Sacramento Kings, who have welcomed back De’Aaron Fox, will take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday in an attempt to address their poor road performance in the early going of the season.
After missing five games, Fox returned on Monday and scored 28 points and disheveled six assists in 36 minutes during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 132-120 home triumph. However, outside of its own arena, Sacramento is just 1-3 and has lost its last three games away from home. Prior to Monday, Fox had only played once, on October 29, when they defeated the Lakers 132-127 at home in overtime. Fox appeared just as agile as ever in his most recent game despite spraining his right ankle in that one. “It felt good just to be able to go out there and contribute,” Fox stated. “When you’re hurt and you’re not playing, you’re just watching, I don’t want to say you’re helpless, but you just want to be out there to help your team.” Though he had plenty of assistance, Fox led head coach Mike Brown to his 400th career victory. Domantas Sabonis finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, and ten assists, while Keegan Murray contributed 25 points. In his two seasons as head coach of the Kings, it was Brown’s 53rd victory. During a brief tenure that concluded early in the 2012–13 season, he led the Lakers to 42 victories in parts of two seasons. He won 305 games and made one trip to the NBA Finals (2007) during his two different tenure with the Cavaliers. “You feel all of the emotions: Fortunate, blessed, lucky,” Brown stated. “… You feel blessed, fortunate, lucky to be around quality people (with the Kings), and people that obviously play at a high level, perform at a high level … and are good people too.” Brown has a great deal of familiarity with Lakers star LeBron James from his time with the Cavaliers. James recently returned from a one-game absence due to a left calf injury and scored 16 points in 23 minutes on Tuesday. After defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 134-107, the Lakers extended their winning streak to three games. This marked the beginning of a nine-day stretch in which Los Angeles will play six games. Leading the Lakers with 24 points, D’Angelo Russell made 6 of 8 3-pointers. Los Angeles shot 62.9 percent (22 of 35) from beyond the arc, making 22 3-pointers to equal a franchise record. It is the greatest 3-point percentage in NBA history, according to ESPN (minimum 35 tries). Anthony Davis, who missed a game against the Houston Rockets last week due to a groin issue, appeared fully healthy as he scored 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Lakers on Tuesday. In the fourth quarter, Davis and James were able to observe from the sidelines.
“The entire performance was outstanding,” Davis remarked following the match. “I believe this was the first time we played a full game on both ends of the court for 48 minutes. We didn’t want to be sluggish to emerge and have to defend ourselves since we had another one coming up on Wednesday.” Following a Friday fourth-quarter comeback that resulted in a road victory over the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers appeared revitalized. There were victories over Portland and Memphis, but a step up in competition is expected versus Sacramento. In the Kings’ defeat last month, Davis equaled a season best with 30 points and 16 rebounds.
Check out the Bellingham Herald’s article on the NBA (281880813.html) for more information.
