By Shawn Whelchel

In what could be considered a small moral victory, the Sacramento Kings handed the Los Angeles Lakers one final loss to close out their disastrous 2015 season, beating the downtrodden team by a score of 122-99 on Wednesday’s season finale.

Although the Kings have had their fair share of injury troubles, which have held starters DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay out of action during the season’s final few games, the Lakers were only able to suit up eight players for Wednesday nights finale during a season which furthered the once prosperous franchise’s fall from grace.

The Kings pounced on the makeshift Los Angeles lineup, jumping out to an early lead by the end of the first quarter, and never looking back, as they continued to make short work of the Lakers defense throughout the entire game.

The Kings finished with seven players in double figures, including all five starters.Ben McLemore led the team with 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting, followed by Ray McCallum who dished in 19 points on 7-of-14 from the field. Derrick Williams and Ryan Hollins provided some spark off the bench, finishing the game in double figures as well. Sacramento’s offense was efficient throughout the entire game, as the squad finished the contest with a 54.8 shooting percentage from the field, and an impressive 47.1 percentage from beyond the arc as they converted 8-of-17 three point attempts.

The loss put an even bigger stain on a wasted Lakers season, as the 21-61 season record gave Los Angeles their worst record in franchise history, good for second worst in the Western Conference behind the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves. The Kings, however, finished the season with a modest two game winning streak while surpassing last year’s win total by one.

The Kings are setup for improving on their fourth place finish in the Pacific Division as new head coach George Karl will be at the helm of the team for his first full season next year. The Kings finished with an 11-19 record under Karl, although they were without Cousins and Gay for the end of the season.