The Los Angeles Lakers visited the Golden 1 Center to face the Sacramento Kings on Monday night, but the home team handed them a heavy defeat, beating them 124-112.
This latest loss was the third in a row for LeBron James and his team, dropping their record to 23-14, although they remain 5th in the Western Conference. And that situation was something the Kings did not fail to take advantage of.
Kings taunt LeBron
During the game, Luka Doncic led the team with 42 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. LeBron followed with 22 points, almost half of those scored by the Slovenian. Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes were the only other two players to also score in double digits with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Despite the Lakers’ efforts, they failed to stop the home team.
Despite this, this game had added value for LeBron: he debuted a special commemorative patch from Topps, the trading card manufacturer, for playing his 23rd season in the NBA.
However, after the defeat, the Kings’ official X (formerly Twitter) account did not spare the Lakers star and sent him a message: “Bad day to be a jersey patch debut,” the team wrote.
The patch shows the silhouette of LBJ performing his ritual of throwing chalk before each game. Behind him are three colored lines, one for each team he has belonged to (Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and Lakers). These patches will be removed from his jersey after each Lakers game, and some of them will be placed on “ultra-rare” trading cards.
However, this patch did not bring King James the luck he needed. DeMar DeRozan was the Kings’ top scorer with 32 points and 6 assists. Malik Monk followed with 26, and Russell Westbrook added 22 points against his former team.
Meanwhile, LeBron and the Lakers return to action on Tuesday, January 13, against the Atlanta Hawks at LA’s Crypto.com Arena.
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