The South Bay Lakers’ bid for a G League championship ended Sunday night with a 101-97 loss to the Stockton Kings in the Western Conference Finals at UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, California.
Lakers two-way forward Drew Timme paced South Bay with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Two-way guard Chris Mańon added 10 points and 11 rebounds. South Bay led by nine midway through the fourth quarter, but Stockton closed the game on a 21-8 run to advance to the G League Finals, where the Kings will meet the Greensboro Swarm.
Several key South Bay contributors were unavailable because of injuries on the parent Los Angeles Lakers roster. Luka Doncic (Grade 2 left hamstring strain) and Austin Reaves (Grade 2 left oblique injury) remained with the NBA club in Dallas, forcing Adou Thiero, Kobe Bufkin, Nick Smith Jr. and Dalton Knecht to join the Lakers instead of playing in the conference final.
South Bay finished the regular season 26-10, earning the Western Conference’s best record and setting a franchise mark with a 12-game winning streak from February through March. The .722 winning percentage is the second highest in team history.
The G League postseason uses a single-elimination format until the best-of-three Finals. South Bay opened the playoffs by edging the San Diego Clippers 122-119, led by Timme’s 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Bufkin scored 20 and sealed the victory with a last-second block, while Smith contributed 18 off the bench. In the second round, the Lakers defeated the Rio Grande Valley Vipers 112-97 behind Dalton Knecht’s 24-point, 13-rebound double-double.
This was South Bay’s first Western Conference Finals appearance since 2018 and marked substantial progress under head coach Zach Guthrie in his second season.
Meanwhile, Lakers head coach JJ Redick said the NBA club must “extend the season” to give Doncic and Reaves a chance to return for the playoffs.
Source: Lakers Nation
