Kings Dominate LeBron James, Lakers as Anthony Davis, More Sit Before Playoffs

The Sacramento Kings picked up a 136-122 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the teams' final seeding game of the NBA's restart at the Walt Disney World Resort on Thursday.

The Lakers have already clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, while the Kings were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention Sunday. As a result, Thursday's contest had little in the way of consequences for either team.

Sacramento shot 21-of-47 from three-point range. Los Angeles was similarly efficient, going 15-of-35 from beyond the arc as defense proved optional.

Notable Stats

LeBron James, SF, Lakers: 6-13 FG, 17 points, three rebounds, four assists

Bogdan Bogdanovic, SG, Kings: 11-23 FG, 27 points, six rebounds, nine assists, two steals

Buddy Hield, SG, Kings: 10-17 FG, 28 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals

Nemanja Bjelica, PF, Kings: 5-8 FG, 15 points, eight rebounds, 13 assists, two steals, one block

Kings End Season on High Note

Bogdan Bogdanovic was averaging 16.2 points over 10 games against the Lakers, his second-highest scoring average against any one team. For whatever reason, the 27-year-old loves to play Los Angeles.

Bogdanovic took full advantage of the fact that the Lakers were largely going through the motions. He did a little of everything, be it scoring, finding teammates for buckets or picking the pockets of opposing players.

Buddy Hield was a big beneficiary as well. Los Angeles' lackadaisical defense made life easy for the 2020 Three-Point Contest champion.

Hield has struggled for much of the season. He was shooting 39.0 percent from beyond the arc, down from 43.1 percent and 42.7 percent, respectively, over the past two years. Head coach Luke Walton hasn't played to his strengths, either.

Fans got to see Hield back to his best Thursday.

Sacramento dropped five of its first six games of the restart to end already slim playoff hopes. Closing with two straight wins didn't matter but provided some much-needed entertainment to close the curtain on the regular season.

Lakers Turn Focus Toward Playoffs

The Lakers listed Alex Caruso (right neck muscle spasms) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (right foot contusion) as out for Thursday, while Anthony Davis (sprained right ankle) was questionable. None of the three played, and LeBron James logged 15 minutes in the first half before calling it a day.

Los Angeles seized a 40-30 lead after the first quarter but took its foot off the gas in the second. James exited with 4:01 left in the first half with the team down 56-52. The Kings then built a 10-point advantage heading into halftime.

Like James, Danny Green remained on the sideline in the second half, so Lakers fans were treated to a lot of Quinn Cook, JR Smith, Talen Horton-Tucker and Markieff Morris.

The Kings took advantage of the Lakers' emptying the bench to pull away in the third quarter, eliminating any doubt about the result.

Los Angeles went 2-6 over the eight seeding games, which probably isn't how Frank Vogel envisioned his team's performance before the postseason. But James already showed with the Cleveland Cavaliers how he often takes his game to another level when the lights shine brightest in the playoffs.

What's Next?

The Lakers await their opponent in the first round of the postseason. The Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs all still have an opportunity to qualify for the play-in tournament to finalize the eighth seed.