10. February 1st, 2020, Los Angeles Lakers at Sacramento Kings – First win since Kobe’s passing
The tragic passing of the Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was an insurmountable title wave of emotion that crashed down on the team in the middle of the season. It was too much pain to endure in their first game back against the Portland Trail Blazers, and something did not feel right when the Lakers lost that game at home.
It seemed like the Lakers bottled up that frustration and took it out on their next opponent, which was the Sacramento Kings. At halftime, the Lakers were already up 17 points, and fittingly enough they scored 81 points in the half, their highest point total in a half all season, and of course Kobe’s career-high.
By the end of the game, the Lakers had almost put 130 points, and finished with their fourth-highest scoring output of the season. The most impressive part about this scoring outburst is that it did not just come from AD and LeBron, the bench had 58 points and seven players were in double figures.
Sure, this is just a win against a lower-tier Western Conference team, but it felt like an emotional victory more than anything, and it was a good tribute to throttle a franchise that was one of Kobe’s biggest rivals. Also as long as Luke Walton is the head coach for the Kings, they are going to be a tough matchup because of his knowledge of the Lakers players and scheme, so this win should not be discounted.