Forward LeBron James (6) of the Los Angeles Lakers takes a fade away shot against the Sacramento Kings forward Maurice Harkless (8) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Tue Jan 4, 2022 (AP News photo)

Fourth Quarter Comeback Beats Sacramento, Lakers defeat Kings122-114

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings played a tight game coming up short as the clock ran out. Despite the loss the Kings had some great play by Fox, Hield and Barnes.

Tuesday night the Sacramento Kings (16-23) traveled down south to take on the Los Angeles Lakers (20-19) at Crypto.com Arena. While the Lakers are favored in this matchup, the Kings are coming off a nice win over the Miami Heat last Sunday. The Lakers wound up with the win the final was 122-114 in Los Angeles.

The Kings have had their ups and downs all season but the win over the Heat could really go far in the confidence department for the team. They could really use a generous dose of confidence having lost their last four road games.

The Kings will be leaning heavily on DeA’aron Fox, Harrison Barnes, Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Jones and Marvin Bagley along with bench standout Buddy Hield who had 26 against the Heat. This is an extremely talented roster that just has had a tough time this year.

Sacramento had a nice start in the first quarter of this game leading 31-26. The Lakers came back from their slow start in the first quarter to take the lead in the second quarter. The Kings refused to go away and at halftime had fought their way into the lead 59-57.

It was a wild back and forth game through the third quarter. The Lakers held a slim 85-83 lead going into the final quarter. Fox and Hield had been great for Sacramento in fact giving them a real chance to win this game.

The Kings had the lead going into the final four minutes of this game. The Lakers and the Kings began to trade shots in this see-saw game. Lebron James really got the Lakers going in the final two minutes dropping a couple of baskets and giving his team a 118-112 lead with 51 ticks left on the clock. LeBron finished as the top scorer of the game with 31 points.

It was a tough loss for the Kings after having led for much of the game. Fox finished with 30 points and off the bench Hield had 26. The Kings just were not able to close out this game.

Friday night the Kings will take on the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Tipoff is at 6:00 PM PT