Los Angeles Lakers: 3 takeaways from win against Sacramento Kings

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LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 9: Brandon Ingram #14 of the Los Angeles Lakers handles the ball against the Sacramento Kings on January 9, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Turnovers and Free-Throw Shooting

The Lakers may have won the game, but the holes in their game continued to show. Two of the team’s main concerns this year have been turnovers and free-throw shooting. The Lakers rank second to last in turnovers with 16.6 per game, and rank last in free-throw shooting with a 69.2 percent success rate.

Last night the team had a season-high 26 turnovers. Of those 26 turnovers, Brandon Ingram had seven while Julius Randle had six. The turnovers almost cost the Lakers the game as there were a few Sacramento runs.

The Lakers were up 24-6 early in the first quarter, but their turnovers trimmed their lead down to four by the end of the quarter. Similarly, the team was up 53-52 to start the second-half, but found themselves down 56-64 three minutes into the third quarter. If L.A. hopes to hold on to their leads in what should be easy victories the team should continue to strive to take better care of the basketball.

As for the free-throw shooting, the team shot 13-for-21 from the line. The 61.9 percent success put them below even their own league-low average for the season. Like turnovers, the team should make an effort to improve their free-throw shooting if they wish to continue to win games.

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