The Sacramento Kings were imbued with the spirit that comes from constructing a new arena for basketball, and it was just enough to edge D'Angelo Russell and his Lakers. The Lakers held a small lead for most of the game, and in the final minutes, Russell made some excellent shots from beyond the arc to pad the lead and even later when the Kings retook the lead, but ultimately Demarcus Cousins would not be denied, dunking the ball ferociously to give the Kings a 4 point lead with 30 seconds left.
Cousins had 26 points and 14 rebounds. New pickup Arron Afflalo had 19 points, despite a rough start on 8-16 shooting. The Kings struggled to score early, which gave the Lakers the advantage. The visiting purple and gold team probably should've won this game, but one has to be impressed by the clutch 'Mamba Mentality' of Russell, who did everything he could to get the Lakers on top. Russell fell just shy of Cousins with 25 points and 5 assists.
Darren Collison had struggled all night to score and be effective as a distributor, a far cry from Rajon Rondo (who is now with the Chicago Bulls instead), but it was his 3PTer that gave the Kings the lead in the final minute and made it tough for the Lakers to recover. Both teams struggled to score based on their averages, with both failing to reach over 100 points, especially the Kings at home.
Brandon Ingram provided a late spark for the Lakers, scoring 12 points with 2 steals and 1 block. Lou Williams appeared to be in store for a hot night, but stopped at just 15 points. Clarkson had a struggle with just 12 points. The Lakers big men fought foul trouble, but Randle had 10 points with 6 rebounds, Mosgov with 5 points and 6 rebounds.
