On Wednesday night, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James discussed what he believes the Lakers’ defensive strategy should be against the Sacramento Kings.
The Lakers dropped their most recent game against the Kings on March 6, allowing 130 points at Crypto.com Arena.
“Transition, obviously, is a significant component,” James said of Los Angeles’ defensive strategy. “They have a lot of guard speed, which has caused a lot of difficulties for a lot of teams, including us, this season, especially with [De’Aaron] Fox, [Malik] Monk, and [Davion] Mitchell. We need to do a better job of getting our bodies in front of those players, forcing them to take more contested shoots. In that final game, I believe we allowed Fox to perform a one-man fast break against our defense, particularly in the third quarter.
“It also started with Monk in that second. He walked in and gave them a spark. We won every quarter of that game except for the second, and they merely
Unfortunately for James and the Lakers, the club lost the second quarter by 24 points (44-20), which proved to be an insurmountable disadvantage
On March 6, Fox finished with 44 points on 19-of-32 shooting (2-for-6 from outside the arc), four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Monk also contributed significantly off the bench, scoring 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting (3-for-5 from three) and dishing out eight assists.
The Kings can certainly score the ball, as they now rank 11th in the NBA in terms of offensive rating. The club also enjoys pushing the tempo, ranking No. 12 in the NBA in that category.
Los Angeles has failed to defeat the Kings this season, losing by five in overtime in the first game, 15 points in the second, and ten points on March 6.
With the Lakers only two games behind the Kings in the Western Conference rankings, this is a crucial game for both teams. Los Angeles is now the No. 9 seed in the West, while the Kings (No. 7 seed) are 0.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns for the No. 6 spot.
James, who departed the previous encounter between these teams with an ankle ailment, performed admirably against the Kings on March 6. The four-time champion finished the game with 31 points, 13 assists, and five rebounds,
The Lakers and Kings will face off at 7 p.m. PST from Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
