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Lakers forward Rui Hachimura drives as Sacramento Kings forward Isaac Jones defends during the first half of a preseason game on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Lakers forward Rui Hachimura drives as Sacramento Kings forward Isaac Jones defends during the first half of a preseason game on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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LOS ANGELES — After nearly two weeks of exhibition games, the Lakers were finally able to have their long-awaited “dress rehearsal” with Friday night’s preseason finale against the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
And it also offered insight into their expected starting lineup when they host the Golden State Warriors in their regular-season opener on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers started Luka Doncic, Gabe Vincent, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton in their 117-116 loss to the Kings – the first time they had what will be their full, healthy rotation of players when the regular season starts in light of LeBron James being sidelined to start the season because of the sciatica (nerve pain/injury) on his right side.
Rookie forward Adou Thiero will also be sidelined to start the season as his left knee swelling improves. Coach JJ Redick didn’t have an update on the status of second-year guard Bronny James, who suffered a sprained ankle during the second half of Tuesday’s preseason loss to the Phoenix Suns.
“Obviously we didn’t win,” Doncic said. “JJ said there were a lot of good things and some things we need to go through, we need to clear up. But he’s saying there were a lot of good things in that first quarter. We have two more practices (before the opener), so we need to clean up some things.”
Doncic led the Lakers with 31 points, nine assists and five rebounds in 32 minutes in his second preseason game. The 26-year-old Slovenian star was again in regular-season form, shooting 6 for 11 from 3-point range 8 for 16 from the field overall.
Hachimura added 18 points, going 4 for 5 from 3-point range, and Ayton had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Marcus Smart, also playing in his second preseason game, had 14 points, four steals and three rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench.
“Just overall good to have a Marcus Smart game,” Redick said. “Did some really good things, and that’s a positive sign for us going into the regular season.”
The Lakers had 28 assists on their 39 made shots, and just 10 turnovers, though Redick felt the Lakers could have racked up a few more assists with better accuracy on lob passes.
“Biggest thing from tonight was just our passing,” Redick said. “The reality is we should have 35 assists. We’ve got to figure out our lobs. And then we had a couple Harlem Globetrotter plays when the simple play was right there. But we had multiple possessions where everybody touched it and created multiple advantages, got good shots, some of which we didn’t make, but I liked our offensive flow and execution for most of the game.”
The Kings, who sat most of their starters, were led by Dennis Schroder’s 25 points. Zach LaVine had 16 points, six assists and four rebounds, while Keon Ellis recorded 20 points off the bench.
Second-year Lakers wing Dalton Knecht tied the score at 116-all with 9.4 seconds remaining, but two-way guard Nick Smith Jr. committed a shooting foul on Sacramento’s Isaac Jones with 0.8 seconds remaining. Jones split the pair of free throws to give the Lakers a 1-5 record in the preseason.
Sacramento shot 54.7% from the field (41 for 75) and 44.8% from behind the arc (13 for 29), continuing the Lakers’ defensive woes before the regular season starts.
“Not a great defensive start, but there were some really good things in the second, third quarter,” Redick said. “I challenged the guys to be at the basketball more. We were just so far off the body, every time we got an iso-read call. And they were better in the second half. Better, not perfect, but better.”
Redick added: “Another game where I think we took a step in the right direction.”
VINCENT STARTS
While Doncic, Reaves and Ayton had been viewed as locks for the first unit, and Hachimura was an incumbent starter from last year’s team and finished the 2023-24 season as a starter too, the inclusion of Vincent in the first unit in light of James’ absence was the biggest surprise.
But Vincent, who is entering his third season with the Lakers, has had a strong preseason, including scoring 18 points in the opening 4½ minutes of Wednesday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Las Vegas.
Vincent entered Friday averaging 17 points (50% shooting from 3-point range on 7.3 attempts per game) and 3.3 assists in the previous three preseason games he played.
He scored 14 points, making four of his five 3-point shots, in 23 minutes on Friday before Redick pulled his starters throughout the fourth quarter.
Redick continued to be tight-lipped about the starting lineup for the opener against the Warriors, but provided feedback on what he likes about Vincent with the first unit.
“I have a pretty good idea who’s going to start game one. After that, I don’t know,” Redick said. “But I do think in that lineup there’s lot of shooting around Luka and D.A., and Gabe is another ball handler, another tough defender. He fits in well, but you have to take a look at every matchup we play against, and have to make a decision there.”
KLEBER DEBUTS; HAYES BRUISES WRIST
Jarred Vanderbilt and Maxi Kleber played on Friday after dealing with quadriceps ailments, with Kleber making his preseason debut in the second half after fellow backup big man Jaxson Hayes was ruled out because of a bruised right wrist. Redick said Hayes’ X-ray came back negative and that the team should have an update after Sunday’s scheduled practice.
Kleber had been sidelined for nearly the entire training camp and preseason because of the injury. The 6-foot-10 German big man, who the Lakers acquired as part of the trade for Doncic last February, was sidelined for three months to close out last season because of a fractured right foot.
“I was very frustrated,” Kleber said. “I put in a lot of work to have something happen like that. But you can’t always control everything. All I can do is put in the work and do my best. The same goes for coming back rehabbing and getting back into game shape.”
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