The Los Angeles Lakers haven't closed the gap on the Sacramento Kings, who's younger legs have them up 78-64 on the Lake Show. The Lakers are riding a five game winning streak in Sacramento, but the black out appears to have worked as that streak is in jeopardy. Kobe Bryant leads all scorers with 23 points, but that's on 19 shots. Nine of those points have come from the free throw line, and the only other scorer in double digits is Meta World Peace who hasn't score in the second half.
The Kings went on a significant run to end the third quarter, highlighted by an emphatic Demarcus Cousins putback dunk. The Kings now have four players in double digit scoring, and continue to shoot better than 50% from the field. Sacramento is also shooting 50% from behind the three point arc.
The Lakers are still shooting worse that 40% from the field, and only 8% from behind the three point arc. The only bright spot for the Lakers is their high percentage of free throws made, without which the Lakers would be staring up at a towering deficit. With the Kings extremely hot from the field, it's the defense that has let the Lakers down just as much as the offense has.