What can I say? I anticipated this. I love the Kings but the Lakers proved superior. The Lakers are the “World Champions” and they proved it. Kobe Bryant said it best in his post game interview “The Kings have a lot of heart” aka they are not in our class. Kings fans know this and their hearts said yes though their brains said no. Kobe went off for 30 points, 12 assists, and 1o rebounds. Couple that with 22 points and 11 boards from Gasol and this one wasn’t even close. I know you die hard Kings fans will say that we made a run in the 4th…but alas as I predicted you can’t fall behind double digits to the reigning World Champions and expect to unearth them. Surprise, Surprise! The Lakers are 5-0 and our young Kings are 3-2.

The first quarter ended with the Lakers up 35-33. This was as close as it was gonna get. It was a wild first and the Kings gave it a hoot but by halftime the Kings were down by 9. A respectable number but they never were able to close the gap. The third ended Kings down 14 and by the end of the game they lost by 12. I am pleasantly comfortable with how the Kings played. As they repeated over and over on ESPN the Kings are the 6th youngest team in the NBA. Games like this will only help to strengthen their resolve. Both Evans and Cousins were playing in foul trouble all night. Granted, some will argue the Kings played better with both off the floor late in the third / early in the fourth. Lets call a spade a spade….the amazingly talented Lakers went on cruise control during that time.

Udrich was the Kings player of the games scoring 17 points, gathering 5 boards, and dishing 8 assists in 42 minutes. I have doubted Udrich running the point but after this performance I have to give him his props. I had advocated for Francisco Garcia to take over this role. Alas, I now realize that Garcia is needed off the bench to give a spark. Garcia playing only 29 minutes was able to put up 17 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and  1 steal. These are fantastic numbers for a bench player (I have to find some positives from this game). Evans was limited with foul trouble and only had 29 minutes, 21 points, 2 assists, and 1 steal. Cousins also was loaded up with foul trouble and only played 20 minutes, 6 boards, and 11 points. Rookie level production against world class competition. I’m tough on Sammy D (from watchin’ his years with the 76ers) but he has found a role on this Kings team. When he enters the game off the bench he has turned into a defense presence and a rebounding machine. His stat line from this game? impressive – 28 minutes, 10 boards, 3 blocks, and 2 assists. As long as Westy continues to use him as a defensive replacement then I will begrudgingly accept his role. He has definitely made impacts that have won the Kings some games in this early season.

Looking forward to the Kings taking on Memphis on Saturday. After this loss I feel they will be hungry to continue their winning ways. Feel free to stop back at Kings Gab for the TiVO rewind later today. Only there can you get the joy of the oddities that occur in the NBA.