Gameday Pr0phile - Sacto

Los Angeles Lakers

(21-17, 3rd Pacific)

Sacramento Kings

(16-21, 5th Pacific)

Lakers Team Stats
Offense 97.6 ppg, 20.3 apg, 42.0 rpg
Defense 95.2 ppg, 20.0 apg, 40.7 rpg

Kings Team Stats
Offense 98.9 ppg, 22.9 apg, 39.8 rpg
Defense 99.6 ppg, 22.0 apg, 42.4 rpg

Season Series
The teams have not met this season.
Last Meeting:

Lakers won an exhibition game, 105-103, Oct. 28th, 2005

image courtesy AP / Matt Sayles

Top 6 Lakers

PG Smush Parker 11.5 points, 3.1 assists, 3.2 rebounds
SG Kobe Bryant 34.3 points, 4.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds
SF Lamar Odom 14.6 points, 5.6 assists, 9.3 rebounds
PF Kwame Brown 6.2 points, 0.9 assists, 6.1 rebounds
C Chris Mihm 10.2 points, 0.9 assists, 6.6 rebounds
6th Devean George 6.5 points, 1.0 assists, 3.6 rebounds

Top 6 Kings
PG Mike Bibby 19.9 points, 5.4 assist, 3.1 rebounds
SG Kevin Martin 8.3 points, 1.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds
SF Peja Stojakovic 16.6 points, 2.2 assists, 5.0 rebounds
PF Kenny Thomas 8.3 points, 1.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds
C Brad Miller 14.8 points, 5.4 assists, 8.0 rebounds
6th Francisco Garcia 5.4 points, 1.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds

Key Matchup: Smush vs. Bibby
Parker disappeared offensively last game, but did a decent job defensively. Tonight, he’ll face one of the best scorers at the PG spot in the game. Simply put, if he allows Bibby to have free run at the lane or gives him too much room, Bibby will destroy him.

If Smush can have a consistent offensive game and work hard on Bibby, LA should be okay. Expect to see Sasha in the game for some *gasp* physical play against Bibby, but Smush should get the bulk of the minutes as usual.

Featured Peformers
Kobe Bryant 33 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds
Brad Miller 15 points, 5 assists, 9 rebounds

Outlook
The Lakers have won 6 of their past 7 games. While Sacto has taken 3 of 4, they have just split their past 8 games. They have also failed to establish any dominance at home, something that was a given in previous seasons. They will get a boost with the return of Peja and Shareef, but Abdul-Rahim isn’t expected to play much and Peja is…well, Peja.

Home or away, this a game LA should win. Kobe is on fire and it seems as if every night, someone else is stepping up to fill the void. Odom has played two incredible games in his past three and Devean George has re-established himself as the sixth man on this team through solid defense and clutch scoring.

Lakers 99
Kings 94