Timofey Mozgov was matched up against the Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins in Sacramento on Thursday night, and the Los Angeles Lakers center certainly fought for the entire game, which the Lakers won 101-91.
But Mozgov’s best moment came with 7:40 remaining in the game. Rookie Brandon Ingram lobbed a pass to Mozgov from the right side, and the 30-year-old Russian center took it and threw down a massive, one-handed alley-oop dunk to put the Lakers up 80-77.
Lou Williams led the Lakers– who have won four of their last five games– with 21 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter.
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Williams repeatedly pressed the Kings in the fourth, going 4 of 8 from the field and 4 of 5 on free throws to help the Lakers rebound from a poor first half in which they trailed by as many as 19 points.
”He is one of those players who keeps getting better as the game progresses,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. ”He’s been doing this his whole career, making big shots.”
Cousins had 28 points and nine rebounds, Rudy Gay had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Ty Lawson had 11 points for the Kings, who saw their short two-game winning streak snapped.
Sacramento had won the last seven contests against the Lakers.
”I think our defense broke down towards the end. We let them get a lot of shots that they can hit and that gave them confidence,” Cousins said. ”We should have buried them in the second half. But we gave them confidence and some momentum in this game for them to finish it out the way they did.”
D’Angelo Russell scored 17 points and Julius Randle added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers. Mozgov had 10 points.
The Kings led by double digits in the first half, but their offense grew stagnant in the third quarter and continued midway through the fourth, when they were outscored 28-21.
Both Nick Young and Russell had eight points in the third quarter, when the Lakers outscored the Kings 23-18 and pulled within 73-70 entering the fourth.
The Lakers next visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, while the Kings will visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
LAS VEGAS, NV – OCTOBER 13: Timofey Mozgov #20 of the Los Angeles Lakers stands on the court during a preseason game against the Sacramento Kings at T-Mobile Arena on October 13, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sacramento won 116-104.
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