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Lakers 98, Kings 95
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant scored 32 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers ended a three-game skid with a 98-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center on Tuesday night.
Bryant was 11 of 27 from the floor as the Lakers (6-16) handed the Kings (11-11), who played again without forward DeMarcus Cousins, their second straight loss. Cousins missed his seventh game with viral meningitis. The Kings are 2-5 in his absence.
Forward Carlos Boozer had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers.
Point guard Darren Collison led Sacramento with 26 points, while Rudy Gay finished with 23 points.
Forward Wesley Johnson’s 3-point basket pulled the Lakers to within 88-87 with 4:34 left in the game. Bryant’s 3-pointer tied the score at 92 with 2:16 remaining. After a free throw by Collison with 1:59 left gave the Kings a one-point advantage, center Jordan Hill’s bucket inside gave the Lakers a 94-93 lead with 1:39 remaining.
Collison’s reverse layup put the Kings up by one, but Los Angeles took the lead for good on Bryant’s two foul shots with 34.4 seconds remaining. Gay missed a 3-point attempt that would have given the Kings the lead with about 20 seconds remaining. Bryant’s two free throws with 15.6 seconds left capped the scoring.
The Kings closed the half with an 18-7 run for a 55-46 cushion at the break. Shooting was the difference. Sacramento converted 54.1 percent of its shots, including five of 10 from on 3-point attempts, compared to 37.3 percent for Los Angeles. The Lakers also missed 11 of their 12 3-pointers.
The Kings took a 67-55 lead — their biggest — after forward Jason Thompson’s layup with 7:53 remaining in the third quarter. The Lakers, though, rallied and tied the score at 75 on an alley-oop dunk by forward Ed Davis at 3:11 of the period. However, two free throws each by center Reggie Evans and Gay and a bucket by Collison gave Sacramento an 81-78 lead at the end of the quarter.
NOTES: The Lakers donned “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts during warmups, adding to the growing number of NBA players who have worn the shirts. The slogan quotes the final words of Eric Garner, a New York man who died when placed in a chokehold by a police officer. … Lakers coach Byron Scott was amused by Magic Johnson’s comments. The Hall of Famer and former Laker said he hoped “the Lakers lose every game” to enhance their position for a top pick in the NBA draft. “That’s easy to say, but when you’re behind the scenes and you’re in the trenches and you’re coaching, that’s not something you want to do,” Scott said. … Sacramento F Rudy Gay scored 20 or more points in five of the previous six games and recorded five or more assists in four of those contests.
