Kings gameday live: LeBron scores 30 for Lakers, but Sacramento comes back to ‘beat L.A.’
Los Angeles Lakers at Sacramento Kings
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Golden 1 Center
TV: NBC Sports California, NBATV
Radio: Sports 1140 KHTK
Odds: Lakers -2.5
Over/under: 221.5
Morning injury report
Lakers: OUT — Trevor Ariza (ankle); Wayne Ellington (hamstring); Talen Horton-Tucker (thumb); Malik Monk (groin); Kendrick Nunn (ankle).
Kings: QUESTIONABLE — Marvin Bagley III (right knee soreness).
LeBron, Davis, Westbrook will play
Kings coach Luke Walton said he wants to give his core rotation players a good run in their final preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday at Golden 1 Center. The Lakers, it seems, are willing to oblige by suiting up all of their biggest stars.
Reports out of Los Angeles over the past couple of days suggest LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook will play and could log significant minutes in what coach Frank Vogel called the “final dress rehearsal.”
The Kings (3-0) have a chance to go unbeaten in preseason play for the first time since 1998, when they went 2-0 with two wins over the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers (0-5) have yet to win a game, but there’s no question of firepower for a star-studded roster that features James, Davis, Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, DeAndre Jordan, Talen-Horton Tucker, Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn.
This will be a good test for a Kings team that is working hard to improve defensively. Fans will be eager to see rookie defensive whiz Davion Mitchell matched up against the likes of Westbrook, Rondo and even James.
More on Mitchell
After leading the Kings to the Las Vegas Summer League championship, Mitchell has followed up with some sensational play in the preseason.
Mitchell, who came out of Baylor as the No. 9 pick in July’s NBA Draft, is averaging 13.3 points, 3.7 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks. He is shooting 51.7% from the field and a scorching 62.5% from 3-point range. That’s in addition to his stellar defense, which prompted teammate De’Aaron Fox to say he’s already one of the five best on-ball defenders in the NBA.
Zion will miss game(s) vs. Kings
There’s significant injury news out of New Orleans, where Pelicans general manager David Griffin said Zion Williamson will not be ready for the start of the season after undergoing offseason foot surgery.
Sacramento and New Orleans will play each other twice in the first two weeks of the season. The Kings will visit the Pelicans on Oct. 29. The Pelicans will come to Sacramento face the Kings on Nov. 3. Those two games may prove to be a factor if the Kings and Pelicans find themselves in another play-in race after finishing with identical records last season.
Williamson will be reevaluated in two weeks. At this point, there is no timetable for his return, so there’s a strong possibility he will miss both games against the Kings.
Bagley downgraded
Kings forward Marvin Bagley’s status for tonight’s game has been downgraded from questionable to doubtful.
Bagley has been experiencing soreness in his right knee. Walton said he thought Bagley would be available after going through practice Wednesday, but now that may not be the case.
Bagley has appeared in two of Sacramento’s three preseason games, averaging 12.0 points and 4.5 rebounds. He has converted on 66.7% of his field-goal attempts but is shooting just 16.7% from 3-point range and 37.5% at the free-throw line.
New crew on Kings TV
NBC Sports California announced Morgan Ragan and former Kings Matt Barnes and Kenny Thomas are joining the gameday broadcast team, effective immediately.
Ragan and Kyle Draper will host Kings Pregame Live and Kings Postgame Live. Barnes and Thomas will serve as analysts on both shows. Barnes is a Sacramento native who logged 97 games with the Kings in 2004-05 and 2016-17. Thomas spent six of his 11 NBA seasons with the Kings from 2004-10.
High praise
During his pregame news conference, Walton was asked if Mitchell’s point-of-attack defense reminds him of anyone.
“From when I played, it does remind me a little bit of when I used to have to play against Ron Artest/Meta World Peace, where you were dribbling and sometimes it just felt easier to give the ball to someone else,” Walton said.
Artest, who played for the Kings from 2006-08, was the 2004 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and a four-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection.
Halftime
The Kings missed seven of their first eight shots and trailed 13-6 four minutes into the game, but they outscored the Lakers 26-8 to end the first quarter after Walton brought Mitchell off the bench at the 7:03 mark. Mitchell took on a number of defensive assignments, primarily guarding Westbrook and Rajon Rondo, but switching onto James and Carmelo Anthony as well as the crowd ghasped with each encounter.
Sacramento led 35-23 at the end of the first period and went up by 14 early in the second. The Lakers rallied to reclaim a five-point lead midway through the second quarter, but the Kings came back again to take a 71-65 lead at the half.
Kings win
Fox scored 21 points and Terence Davis came off the bench to score 20, leading the Kings to a 116-112 victory over the Lakers. The Kings went 4-0 to finish preseason play unbeaten for the first time since 1998.
Richaun Holmes recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Harrison Barnes also had 15 points.
James finished with 30 points, six rebounds and six assists. Westbrook had 18 points. Anthony Davis had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Kings fans celebrated the victory in the final minutes, serenading Lakers fans with chants of “Beat L.A.” as they headed for the exits.
Note: Come back for updates before, during and after tonight’s game for the latest news, notes, quotes and injury updates.
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
