LeBron's fourth-quarter run exposes the Kings' weakness early in the season

LeBron's fourth-quarter run exposes Kings' early season weakness originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Leave it to LeBron James to expose the Kings' biggest weakness two games into the 2024-25 NBA season.

The 39-year-old Los Angeles Lakers superstar scored 16 of the Lakers' 21 points in the fourth quarter, helping Los Angeles to a thrilling 131-127 victory over Sacramento on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.

In doing so, James not only proved – once again – his undeniable value in his illustrious 22-year career, but also made it clear that the Kings' weakness early this season is defense.

The Kings' defensive system, which lacked neither physicality nor stamina last season, had no answers for James and Co. towards the end of the game, especially in transition after turnovers.

“We were just trying to get stops, you know,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis told reporters Saturday. “LeBron was kind of like LeBron. He started walking.

“He did his thing and we were careless with the ball on the other side instead of scoring or making good shots. “We had a couple turnovers there that helped them make that run.”

Los Angeles won the rebound duel 45:32 and outscored Sacramento offensively with eight rebounds. Sabonis, who finished the night with his first triple-double of the season, led the Kings with 12 rebounds, while guard De'Aaron Fox was second with five rebounds.

James finished the game with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, handing the Kings their first loss to the Lakers since January 7, 2023 and leaving Fox in awe of the future Hall of Famers' dominant longevity, in his opinion However, not the case will be seen again.

“I mean, guys his age play recreationally,” Fox said. “Obviously what he’s done throughout his career in this league has been amazing. And what he is doing now, in the 22nd grade, will probably never be repeated.”

During the offseason, coach Mike Brown's defensive structure was questioned, which was ranked as high as No. 2 at the end of last season.

Late in the preseason, Brown expressed concerns about Sacramento's 3-point defense, which was a major deficit in the Kings' season-opening loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On the other hand, general manager Monte McNair, who stepped up offensively by signing DeMar Derozna, expressed no concerns weeks earlier about his decision not to improve the defense in the offseason, citing the Kings' defensive progress last season as reproducible formula.

Both Brown and McNair managed to keep much of the roster behind Sacramento's fearsome defense late last season. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before the tide turns.

But so far, that's not the case for the winless Kings, who, as James pointed out, have a glaring defensive problem that requires immediate attention.

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