The Los Angeles Lakers dropped to 1-2 on Sunday night, falling to the division rival Sacramento Kings 132-127 in overtime on the road.
For the third straight game, the Lakers found themselves trailing by double digits in the first quarter and needing to fight their way back. They were able to do that and forced overtime, although they ran out of gas from there and ultimately lost despite Domantas Sabonis fouling out and De’Aaron Fox rolling his ankle.
Even in the losing effort, LeBron James and Anthony Davis did their respective parts to bring the Lakers back. Davis led the team with 30 points to go along with 16 rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks while James had 27 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.
The statlines were historic as it marked the first time that two Lakers players had at least 25 points and 15 rebounds in the same game since Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in 2002, via Matt Williams of ESPN
Anthony Davis and LeBron James are the 1st Lakers duo to each have 25 points and 15 rebounds in a game since Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant on Christmas Day in 2002 vs the Kings.
The last duo to do this for any team was Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan in 2014.
— Matt Williams (@StatsWilliams) October 30, 2023
While this is an incredible feat for James and Davis and something that hasn’t been done across the league in nearly a decade, there’s no doubt that both of them would have preferred it come in a win.
The Lakers clearly still have a lot to sort out moving forward to get back to the level they were at to end last season, although James recently stressed that it will take time for them to build the continuity they are looking for.
L.A. takes the court again on Monday night back home against the Orlando Magic, so it will be interesting to see if James and Davis are able to suit up after playing 42 and 39 minutes, respectively, in the overtime loss on Sunday.
Darvin Ham will dig in to film to figure out rotations
One thing that has plagued the Lakers so far on the young season is poor rotations as head coach Darvin Ham is still trying to find the lineups that work best for his team.
After the Kings loss, he admitted that he needs to dig into the film and do a better job with his rotations, so hopefully that is something that gets sorted out sooner rather than later.
