LOS ANGELES_Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. missed the first of two free throws, then made the second to give the Lakers a two-point lead with five seconds remaining against the Sacramento Kings. Corey Brewer stole the inbounds pass from Kings guard Buddy Hield, then made two free throws to give the Laker a four-point lead with 4.1 seconds left.
With that, the Lakers notched their 24th win of the season _ 98-94 over the Kings _ and their third win in a row.
"We're getting team effort, really, from everybody right now," Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. "Everybody's kind of rising to the challenge as far as the way they're playing, competing."
Some might call it a missed opportunity to improve their NBA Draft lottery position. The Phoenix Suns won Friday, too, and had the Lakers (24-55) lost out, they would have ended the season tied with Phoenix for the second-worst record in the league. As things stand now, the Lakers have the third-worst record in the league, and a 47 percent chance of keeping their first first-round pick, which is protected in the top three.
But all week the Lakers insisted they are not concerned with lottery standings, and refuse to make losing a priority. While fans outside the building might be rooting for losses and the lottery, the ones in the building cheered loudly as purple and gold streamers fell from the rafters.
"I think the fans have been great," Walton said. "They were going nuts out there tonight. Every time we had a stop or a turnover. Metta (World Peace) got a post-up, they were on their feet giving standing ovations. ... The fans were behind our guys, at least at the arena."
Julius Randle led the Lakers with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Skal Labissiere scored 19 for the Kings and was one of five Kings who scored in double figures.
The other game affecting the Lakers' lottery fate happened as the Lakers played. The Suns faced the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Russell Westbrook, who was in search of a record 42nd triple-double of the season.
The Lakers trailed, 45-44 at halftime. As they went into the break, the Suns were coming out of theirs. Phoenix led Oklahoma City by as many as 26 points in the first half, then saw their lead dwindle all the way to 11 in the third quarter. But by the time the Lakers returned to the court for the third quarter, the Suns had stretched their lead to a comfortable margin again.
Seconds after Brandon Ingram dunked over Georgios Papagiannis while getting fouled, Suns guard Devin Booker hit back-to-back threes to give the Suns a 25-point lead.
As World Peace entered the game at Staples Center to start the fourth quarter, Westbrook checked out in Phoenix, two assists shy of a record 42nd triple double. Fans in Phoenix booed that they wouldn't get to see history.
Thomas Robinson made one of two free throws at Staples Center at the same time as the Suns completed their 120-99 victory over the Thunder.
Where no starter except Tyler Ennis played at all in the fourth quarter in the Lakers' win in San Antonio, Walton finished Friday's game with every starter except Ingram back on the court. Ingram was on a minutes restriction as he recovers from patella tendinitis.
"I thought tonight was a really good opportunity for the starters," Walton said. "I thought the second unit could have closed out the game tonight; they were playing well enough to do it. But they did that in San Antonio and tonight I wanted to give the starters the opportunity ... When you get called back in you gotta be able to turn it right back on and close the game out. I thought it was a really good opportunity to ... try to make that happen."
The Suns' win improved their record to 23-57, but they are still a game-and-a-half worse than the Lakers.
Walton has repeated more than once that the lottery is still a game of chance and losing regular season games doesn't guarantee anything. Winning doesn't guarantee they'll lose their pick, but it does guarantees positive feelings heading into the offseason.
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