The Lakers are in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight taking on the Sacramento Kings in their fourth preseason game. Pau Gasol and Chris Kaman will be together in the starting line-up again after combining for 24 points and 15 rebounds on Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets. Young, Meeks and Nash will also be starting with Gasol and Kaman as they did against the Nuggets.
First Quarter
The Lakers started the game a little slow missing a few of their first shot attempts. Pau Gasol and Chris Kaman started off where they left off in the last game showing good chemistry. Gasol found Kaman with two alley oops early in the game and both big men were fighting inside for rebounds. Nick Young looked aggressive on the offensive end scoring seven points. On the defensive end the Lakers had trouble at first with the Kings starting off shooting the ball well but eventually cooled off. The Lakers ended the quarter trailing by six with the quarter ending on a missed 3-pointer by Steve Blake.
Second Quarter
The Lakers did well shooting the ball early in the second quarter with both Marcus Landry and Shawne Williams hitting a 3-pointer each and Xavier Henry hitting a long 2 point shot. The shooting did not continue throughout the quarter with the Lakers struggling to hit shot attempts halfway through the quarter. Shawne Williams played well coming off the bench as he did during the second quarter in the second game against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers showed inconsistency on the defensive end but picked it up towards the end of the quarter forcing the Kings to turn the ball over. Pau Gasol was quiet early in the quarter but made a few jump shots leading the team with 13 points hitting six of his eight shot attempts. The Lakers finished the first half strong leading the Kings 55-48 but will go on to the second half without Steve Nash due to a sore left ankle.
Third Quarter
The Lakers started off slow but found some light with Jodie Meeks hitting a three and a pair of lay ups to keep the Lakers ahead. Sloppy play by the Lakers created turnovers throughout the quarter. Defensively, the Lakers did not defend the 3-point line with the Kings connecting a few times keeping them in the game. The Lakers overall struggled to get going offensively with Meeks leading the team in the quarter with 10 of his 13 points coming in the third quarter. The quarter ended with Jordan Hill missing a tip shot attempt off Williams missed 3-pointer and the Lakers trail 73-69.
Fourth Quarter
The quarter started with the Lakers attempting 3-pointers but coming up empty while the Kings took advantage bringing their lead up to 14 on an 10-0 run. The Lakers finally put a point up in the quarter with Shawne Williams making a free throw off a defensive three seconds call on the Kings. With very little going for the Lakers offensively and the Kings making shots on their end the Lakers quickly lost control of the game. The Kings continued to shoot well from the 3-point line putting the game away while the Lakers continued to shoot but could not connect. Unfortunately, the Lakers fell to the Kings 104-86.
