Lakers at Kings
Kobe Bryant's 20th NBA season didn't begin with a victory and the Los
Angeles Lakers will attempt to even up their record when they visit the
Sacramento Kings on Friday. Bryant scored 24 points but was bypassed for
the game-winning shot attempt in the final seconds as Los Angeles fell
112-111 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Bryant missed his final eight shots of an 8-of-24 shooting night, so it was new addition Lou Williams who received the call with the game on the line and he missed a driving shot at the buzzer. "When I let it go, I thought it was a bucket," Williams said after the contest. "It's a routine play for me - three or four feet from the rim, float it over a seven-footer. I thought it was a good shot." Sacramento expects to make upward strides this season but opened the campaign with a 111-104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. "We want to be great," small forward Rudy Gay said afterward. "It's not an option to be bad, not for us, not anymore. The kind of people we have around here, we all want to win. It's just going to take some time.”
TV: 10 p.m. ET, TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (0-1): Bryant's last three seasons have been shortened by injuries and his minutes will be closely watched by coach Byron Scott. The presence of Williams will help Scott stick to that intention, and the reigning Sixth Man of the Year scored 21 points off the bench in his Los Angeles debut. The Lakers are expecting big things out of forward Julius Randle and he had 15 points in 11 rebounds against the Timberwolves in his second NBA game - he broke his leg in last season's opener and missed the rest of the campaign.
ABOUT THE KINGS (0-1): Star center DeMarcus Cousins had 32 points and 13 rebounds in the season opener and also stunned onlookers by going 4-of-5 from 3-point range. He made just two 3-pointers all last season and 11 over his first five NBA seasons so adding the long-range component to his game was a big-time surprise. "I'm just building confidence behind it," Cousins told reporters. "I think it will help the team spread the floor."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Kings won three of last season's four meetings.
2. Los Angeles G D'Angelo Russell, the second overall pick in the 2015 draft, had just four points on 2-of-7 shooting in his debut.
3. Sacramento PG Rajon Rondo had just four points and four assists in his team debut.