Lakers at Kings
The Los Angeles Lakers are slowly returning to health, but the losses just keep piling up and they carry a six-game slide into a seven-game road trip that begins at the Sacramento Kings on Monday. Guards D'Angelo Russell (knee) and Nick Young (calf) returned from extended absences Sunday night at home against New York, but the Lakers were unable to get enough stops down the stretch in a 118-112 loss.
Young scored 15 points while Russell struggled to produce three on 1-of-8 shooting in a game that saw both players on a minutes restriction. The Kings have dropped five of their last six and had their worst offensive showing of the season in Saturday's 104-84 loss at Utah. Rudy Gay scored 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting while his teammates combined to shoot 36 percent from the floor as Sacramento fell a season-high seven games below .500. The Kings had won seven consecutive meetings with the Lakers before dropping a 101-91 decision at home Nov. 10.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (10-16): Forward Julius Randle was questionable Sunday night because of a hip issue but shook it off to produce 17 points and 10 rebounds in his third double-double in the last four games. Lou Williams was the team's high scorer once again with 24 points in 26 minutes and he is averaging 32.2 over the last five games, during which the veteran has made 49-of-52 foul shots. He had 21 points, Russell scored 17 and Young finished with 16 in the win at Sacramento last month.
ABOUT THE KINGS (8-15): An eight-point fourth quarter doomed Sacramento in its loss at Utah, as the squad fell to 0-12 when trailing after three. It had second-half issues in the loss to the Lakers earlier this season, scoring 18 points in both the third and fourth quarters to slowly squander a 10-point halftime advantage. DeMarcus Cousins recorded his fourth straight double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) in the loss to the Jazz but continued a shooting slump that has seen the big man hit 37.5 percent of his shots this month.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lakers F Luol Deng hit five 3-pointers en route to a season-high 22 points in Sunday's loss.
2. Kings F Matt Barnes, who allegedly was involved in an altercation in a New York bar earlier this month but is not yet facing charges, is 7-for-35 from the field in a five-game span.
3. Cousins and Randle, both University of Kentucky alums, exchanged words after the first meeting between the teams.