On Saturday night in Sacramento, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope caught fire from distance and made eight three-pointers, which tied a career-high, en route to a season-high 34 points in a 113-108 road victory for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Caldwell-Pope hit seven of his first 10 three-point attempts before cooling down and only making one of his final five long range tries. On this night, though, there was something in the water in Sacramento, as both teams seemed to be uncharacteristically sharp from the arc.
The Kings finished the game with 13 makes in 25 three-point attempts, which calculated out to a ridiculous 52 percent for the night. The Lakers shot 45 percent from distance and made a season-high 17 three-pointers as a team.
After Caldwell-Pope's hot hand delivered the Lakers an early lead in the first quarter, the Kings settled in on an eight-point halftime lead that grew to 10 points early in the third quarter. Then, the Lakers' starting shooting guard caught fire and made five three-pointers in the third quarter to help the Lakers jump from down 10 points to leading by seven. In total, the Lakers outscored the Kings 37 to 25 in the third quarter.
At the start the of the fourth quarter, the Lakers held a four-point lead, and the Kings were in a dogfight. A minute into the fourth quarter, the two team were tied at 87-87. Four minutes later, the score was 94-94, but neither team appeared to have the edge.
Over the next five minutes, the Lakers put together an 11-3 run fueled by Isaiah Thomas providing a couple assists and Caldwell-Pope ditching the three-point line for a smart cut the basket and a tough step-back 20-foot jump shot.
Holding a 105-97 lead with two minutes remaining in the game, the Lakers looked set for a comfortable victory on the road. Only, the Lakers have a habit of complicating late game situations. Saturday was no exception, as the Lakers almost gave the game away.
The Lakers' hero on the day, Caldwell-Pope, almost turned villain when he fouled Bogdan Bogdanovic and gave up a four-point play that brought the Kings within one point with 12.7 seconds remaining.
Thanks to clutch free throw shooting by Thomas and the Kings opting to try for a quick lay-up, which they missed, over a potential game-tying three-pointer, the Lakers escaped by the skin of their teeth and snapped a three-game road losing streak. In addition, Friday and Saturday's wins marked the first time the team swept a back-to-back since Nov. 18-19 of 2014.
Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield both scored 21 points to lead the way for the Kings, while Willie Cauley-Stein put up a monstrous 18 points and 15 rebounds in the loss.
For the Lakers, the frontcourt duo of Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle continued to play well and fill up the box score. While Randle did not match his triple-double from a night earlier, the 23-year-old recorded 12 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block in the victory. Randle continued to be a largely unstoppable force.
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Ingram tabbed 13 points, seven rebounds and a team-high eight assists in the win and continued to display his dynamism as a two-way player.
Next, the Lakers play on Monday night in Atlanta. With a win in Georgia, the Lakers can claim their 26th win of the season, which would match the entire win total from the 2016-17 season.
Notes: Josh Hart finished with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes as a starter. Thomas led the bench with 17 points and four assists, while Kuzma added 10 points. In total, the Lakers had seven different players score in double figures, including all five starters.
