South Bay Lakers recap: G League Lakers win penultimate game of season
The G League Lakers put themselves one step away from claiming the top seed in the Western Conference by beating Sioux Falls on Thursday.
With the G League playoffs approaching, the South Bay Lakers are looking to make sure they continue to peak at the right time of year. On Thursday, they hosted the Sioux Falls Skyforce with an opportunity to further solidify their positioning at the top of the Western Conference. South Bay started to establish a lead late in the first quarter and was up 68-58 at halftime.
Sioux Falls came to within 100-94 at the end of the third quarter, but South Bay pulled away afterward, and by midway through the final period, this game was, for all intents and purposes, over. The Lakers won, 137-114, and they shot 57. 1% from the field while holding the Skyforce to 44.
1% field-goal shooting while scoring 22 points off 14 Skyforce turnovers. Nick Smith Jr. led the attack with 34 points on 13-of-20 overall shooting and 6-of-10 3-point shooting in just 27 minutes, to go along with five assists.
Drew Timme had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and center Malik Williams grabbed 13 rebounds. Second-year man Dalton Knecht made an appearance and scored 19 points on 8-of-13 from the field. In 28 minutes, Bronny James made four of his seven shot attempts and ended up with nine points, five assists, three rebounds and one steal.