Kings Hand the Lakers Their 50th Loss
By: Morgan Ragan
The Kings celebrated Bollywood Night and handed the Lakers their 50th loss on Wednesday night, 107-102.
Rookie Ray McCallum stepped up for the Kings scoring a career-high 27 points and added five assists.
"The biggest thing that impresses me with him is not his scoring and not the assists, it's his demeanor, his composure, his poise," Michael Malone said about McCallum. "For him to be a rookie and exhibit all those attributes at an early age is remarkable, he is only going to get better."
Isaiah Thomas sat out for his fifth consecutive game with a thigh contusion, which gave backup point guard McCallum another 40 plus minute game for the Kings.
"Sometimes an opportunity only comes once and when it comes you have to take advantage of it, and that's what I'm trying to do," McCallum said following the victory.
Los Angeles was short-handed without Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Xavier Henry and Chris Kaman. The Lakers still managed to score 32 points in transition and went 12 for 28 behind the arc.
The Kings kept their assist to turnover ratio positive finishing the game with 16 assists and eight turnovers.
DeMarcus Cousins had another double-double, scoring 20 points and 10 boards. It was Rudy Gay's 10th 30 plus game scoring 31 points adding four assists.
To celebrate Bollywood night Vivek Ranadive and former Niners running back Roger Craig wore authentic Indian Kings owner's daughter, Anjali Ranadive performed her new hit single "We Turn Up" at halftime with the Sacramento Kings Dancers.
The Kings will hit the road and take on the Warriors Friday night at the Oracle.
Analysis:
Ben McLemore had 12 points in his 45 minutes and is looking more confident as the season comes to an end but will have to prove himself against a better team when they take on the Warriors Friday.
It's encouraging to see only eight turnovers from the Kings. Their assist to turnover ratio has not been a positive stat this season and they showed an effort to take care of the ball against the Lakers with only four turnovers each half.
The Lakers (25-50) are on pace for their worst record since moving west from Minneapolis in 1960.
You can hear Morgan with Deuce & J-Ross from 12-3 p.m. on KHTK. Follow her on Twitter: @momoragan
