The promising start to the 2016-17 NBA season has come to an end. The Los Angeles Lakers have now lost seven straight games after falling to the division rival Sacramento Kings on Monday.
After getting D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young back from injury on Sunday, the Lakers were hoping to get off to a good start to their seven-game road trip. Unfortunately, things didn’t go their way with an ugly performance against the Kings which included Luke Walton getting ejected for the first time as head coach of the Lakers.
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Following his first ejection as a head coach, Walton talked about his team and how he believes they gave up for the first time this season. Walton clearly wasn’t happy with the team’s performance as he made clear in the postgame interview on Spectrum SportsNet, via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Luke Walton: “I felt like for the first time this season we kind of gave in, we gave up which is disheartening because…
(on @SpectrumSN) pic.twitter.com/rbaIF6WlAd— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) December 13, 2016
After taking the lead into halftime with a nine-point advantage over the Kings, Sacramento exploded in the third quarter scoring 39 points and holding the Lakers to 13. Kings never looked back after the third and cruised to an 116-92 victory on their home floor.
The Lakers will now try to dust themselves off and get back to form as they leave California to continue their longest road trip of the season. Walton’s squad will head to the East Coast to go head-to-head against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
The struggling Lakers won’t play another game at Staples Center until Christmas Day when they go up against the Los Angeles Clippers.