LOS ANGELES – Luke Walton made a pledge before the Lakers faced Sacramento on Sunday.
“I’m not going to play (Kyle) Kuzma 45 minutes tonight trying to get a win,” Walton said.
The Lakers have reached that point in the season. Priorities are shifting. The offseason is looming, and this team would like it to hurry up and get here.
“We do have to keep our guys healthy,” Walton said, “and we’re not going to make the playoffs. So we are going to fight as hard as we can to get wins, but we’re also going to be cautious about how much we’re running guys.”
The Lakers are trudging to ward the finish line, and it has never been more evident than in Sunday’s 84-83 loss to the Kings, a grind-it-out victory that could largely be credited to Julius Randle’s free-throw shooting down the stretch.
Randle finished with 19 points to lead the Lakers, including 11 in the final period.
No, Kuzma didn’t play 45 minutes. Walton was able to hold him to a lean 39 minutes of action. What choice did he really have?
Brandon Ingram was at home with a concussion and Lonzo Ball remained sidelined with a bruise behind his left knee. That thrust Alex Caruso into starting action and logged 30 minutes.
The Lakers tried to win the game on the back of Randle, who the Kings repeatedly sent to the line in the fourth quarter. He made nine of 12 attempts in the final period but split a pair of free throws with 1:08 left, tying the game at 80.
Two nights after the Lakers lost in overtime to Milwaukee, it looked like the Lakers may have found themselves in extra time yet again.
A turnover-laden final minute prevented that from happening.
Kings guard Buddy Hield stepped out of bounds on the ensuing possession, but the Lakers, overworked and understaffed, fell apart with a pair of ugly, costly turnovers.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who also logged 39 minutes, lost the ball in traffic, leading to a breakaway dunk for Hield.
Alex Caruso tried to answer by quickly throwing the ball ahead to Randle, but Bogdan Bogdanovic poked the ball away, and JaKarr Sampson got an awkward floater to go with nine seconds left, giving the Kings a four-point cushion.
It was a bad loss for the Lakers (33-43), who only avoided their lowest scoring output of the season thanks to a 3-pointer by Brook Lopez with under two seconds remaining. The Lakers were not left enough time to foul, and gain another possession, and the night ended with a whimper.
The Lakers shot 40 percent from the field, but shot just 21.9 percent from 3, making seven of their 32 attempts. Notably, Caldwell-Pope, who has been hot from deep since January, missed all six of his 3-pointers.
Kuzma also struggled, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting and 3-of-9 from 3.
Hield led the Kings with 19 points, 17 of which came in the first half.