Buddy Hield scored 28 points and the Sacramento Kings capped their season with a 136-122 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday near Orlando.
Bogdan Bogdanovic had 27 points, nine assists and six rebounds, while Nemanja Bjelica contributed 15 points, 13 assists and eight boards for the Kings (31-41). Jabari Parker added 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting and eight rebounds and Cory Joseph chipped in 13 points.
Dion Waiters led the Lakers (52-19) with 19 points. LeBron James finished with 17 points and four assists in 15 minutes. He left the contest late in the second quarter and did not return. Markieff Morris had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-5 on 3-pointers.
Both teams played without several key performers. Anthony Davis (knee), Kyle Kuzma (rest), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (ribs) and Alex Caruso (neck) did not play for the Lakers.
Sacramento's De'Aaron Fox (shoulder) missed his second game in a row, Richaun Holmes (hip) sat out his third straight and Kent Bazemore (calf) missed his fourth consecutive contest.
The Lakers led 40-30 after one quarter before the Kings used a 31-12 swing for a 61-52 edge after a 3-pointer by Hield with 2:15 left in the second.
The Kings outscored the Lakers 36-16 in the second for a 66-56 lead at the break.
In the third, the Lakers sliced the gap to six after a tip-in by JaVale McGee less than three minutes into the quarter but the Kings blew the game open with a 24-6 surge after a 3-pointer by Joseph with 4:10 remaining for a 93-69 advantage.
The Kings converted 56.8 percent of their shots compared to 49 percent for the Lakers. Sacramento hit 21 of 47 3-pointers to 15 of 35 for Los Angeles.
The Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season.
The Western Conference's top seed, the Lakers will be making their first playoff appearance since 2013.
--Field Level Media
Sacramento | L.A. Lakers | |
Buddy Hield 28 | Scoring | Dion Waiters 19 |
Nemanja Bjelica 13 | Assists | Jared Dudley 5 |
Nemanja Bjelica 8 | Rebounds | JaVale McGee 9 |
Nemanja Bjelica 4 | Free Throws Made | Dwight Howard 4 |
Yogi Ferrell 3 | Steals | Talen Horton-Tucker 3 |
Nemanja Bjelica 1 | Blocks | Quinn Cook 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Sacramento | 136 | 56.8 | 21-47 | 7-12 | 37 | 44 | 2 | 12 | 15 |
L.A. Lakers | 122 | 49.0 | 15-35 | 11-15 | 29 | 47 | 1 | 6 | 17 |