The Lakers had fallen 24 points behind Sacramento through three quarters Wednesday in the second game of a back-to-back sequence but Coach Darvin Ham wasn’t ready to concede and move on to the next game in their tightly compacted calendar.
Ham sent out starters LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Cam Reddish, and D’Angelo Russell, along with Austin Reaves, to begin the fourth quarter. It was worth a shot, Ham figured, to see if they could cut down on their turnovers and throw the Kings off by going to a zone defense. Maybe they could rely on their competitive instincts to get back into a game they had never led.