The Los Angeles Lakers’ final preseason game of 2022 was Friday evening versus the Sacramento Kings, and it was supposed to be a dress rehearsal for their regular season opener on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors.
Many were expecting regular season-type rotations and minutes, not to mention more cohesion and execution on both ends of the floor.
Instead, it was a comedy of errors, almost from start to finish, as Los Angeles got routed 133-86.
The Lakers were competitive for much of the first quarter. But the game started to get away from them late in the period, and after that, it was no contest.
They were without Anthony Davis (lower back soreness), Dennis Schroder (finger injury), Lonnie Walker IV (ankle injury) and Troy Brown Jr. (back injury). In addition, Russell Westbrook, who came off the bench for the first time as a Laker, exited in the first quarter with a hamstring ailment.
With the contest out of reach in the second half, L.A.’s regular players got little playing time, making it hard to fully judge its performance in this game.
Nonetheless, a few things stood out.