Tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET the Los Angeles Lakers (9-9) will close out a busy night of NBA action when they head to Sacramento to take on the Kings (4-12) at Sleep Train Arena in a matchup that can be live streamed here. Lakers fans can listen to the game on 710 ESPN, while Kings fans can do the same on KHTK CBS Sports 1140 AM.
The Lakers are banking on the return of Kobe Bryant to bolster their somewhat surprising start to the season, but for one more game at least they'll have to lean on Pau Gasol. Gasol has filled the void of Bryant fairly well, posting team highs in points (14.9) and rebounds (9.9) in Kobe's absence.
Reserve Xavier Henry has also pitched in, and discussed the team effort this season has been so far. "We have guys down right now, but we can't do anything about that," Henry said after scoring a career-high 27 points vs. Portland. "The guys we do have can still give any team a run for its money."
Just the idea of a returning Bryant may be enough to galvanize the hobbled Lakers, who will be without backup guard Jordan Famaar now for at least four weeks with a torn hamstring. Kobe is trying to hone his conditioning before making a comeback. "Getting a rhythm under my legs, as far as stopping on a dime, raising up and shooting," Bryant said. "And getting your game legs underneath you where you can shoot a jump shot comfortably."
Los Angeles has had some issues defensively this year, so they need to either score big or figure out a way to contain tiny-but-potent point guard Isaiah Thomas, who dropped 21 fourth quarter points on Oklahoma City in the Kings' last game. Against L.A. he'll try to spread that production out more.
"I felt like I was passive in the first half and I wasn't really doing anything on offense," Thomas said. "When I got in at the end of the third and fourth I wanted to try to make a difference. I was in attack mode and my teammates kept feeding me."
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