This was really two games somehow mashed together into one. The Sacramento Kings played two halves of basketball against the Los Angeles Lakers, but the two barely resembled eachother. They might as well have been different sports.

In the first half, it was the DeMarcus Cousins show. He scored 22 of his 29 points from all over the court; the post, three pointers, alley-oops, you name it. But the Kings were pushing the pace and scoring so easily they built a 20+ point lead without really even trying that hard. It was clear that they were coasting a bit on defense, but it simply didn't matter. Meanwhile, the Lakers became the L.A. Kobes one last time. Bryant had a vintage half with 18 points scoring in all the same ways he's tortured Kings fans with in the past. Honestly, the game was a circus. The Kings were massacring the Lakers without so much as breaking a sweat, but Kobe's performance kept his farewell narrative machine churning.

The second half largely had to do with the absence of Cousins. Boogie picked up his fifth foul with 5 minutes to go in the third quarter with the Kings holding a cool 25 point lead. From that point on, the Lakers' guard trio of D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, and Lou Williams took the game over. The Kings reserve guards of Darren Collison and Marco Belinelli were utterly annihilated tonight. Not only did they fail to defend, the offense simply died without Boogie on the court. By the time Cousins checked back in, the lead was down to 9.

Unfortunately, the Kings' defensive scheme's weaknesses were on full display tonight. They still are all to content with giving up the midrange without any resistance at all, a fact that both Russell and Clarkson in particular feasted on. They don't bother using ICE defense at all to force pick-and-rolls to go baseline; if an offense wants, the Kings will roll out the red carpet for guards to waltz right into the middle of the lane and collapse the defense. The Kings are still too content with allowing bad defensive matchups dictate the game, such as having Belinelli the speedy Lou Williams. There doesn't appear to be any desire from the coaching staff to fix the broken scheme.

Down the stretch, Rajon Rondo and Cousins stabilized the Kings just enough to squeak by with victory. The execution was shaky, but they ran plays through Cousins in the post and were able to manufacture just enough points. Rondo hit a big floater to put the Kings up for good and poked the ball loose from Clarkson to hold the Lakers at bay. Boogie sealed the deal with two clutch free throws.

Basically, I can't wait to forget about this game. Not only was Sleep Train Arena packed with Laker fans, but choking away a 27 point lead on National T.V. to the Lakers is an embarrassment of the highest order. The Kings next play the Warriors on Saturday and then get a four day break before taking on the Pelicans. Onto some observations!