The Los Angeles Lakers came into Friday night’s preseason finale with no Carlos Boozer, Jordan Hill, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Xavier Henry, Ryan Kelly, and Nick Young. Boozer, Bryant, and Hill were given the night off, while the others are recovering from injuries. The Sacramento Kings, on the other hand, came in to the game with a fully healthy roster.

DeMarcus Cousins got it going for the Kings early in this one. He dominated the Lakers bigs and put them in major foul trouble in the first quarter. Cousins drew four fouls on Robert Sacre, three on Ed Davis, and two on Julius Randle. Despite Cousins’ dominance, the Kings trailed 22-26 at the end of the first.

The shorthanded Lakers would lose another player early in this game. Ronnie Price banged knees with Darren Collison in the opening minutes of the game, and Price left the game and never returned. He has suffered a knee contusion. The Lakers were already thin at the point guard position with the announcement that Nash would be out for the entire season and with Price leaving this game, Jeremy Lin received heavy minutes.

The two teams would exchange buckets throughout the second quarter, as the Lakers were led by Julius Randle, who continues to play with tremendous confidence. Sacramento got scoring from newly acquired point guard and former Laker Ramon Sessions in the period. Derrick Williams came through too, as he highlighted the quarter with an emphatic one-handed dunk.

During the second quarter, another player had to leave the game due to injury. This time it was Kings forward Rudy Gay, who took a hard elbow to the face by Julius Randle. Gay did not return and will receive MRI.

Down by one at the half, the Lakers came out of the locker rooms with a sense of urgency as they went on a 9-2 run to capture a six-point lead. With Lin running the show, the Lakers extended their lead to 13 towards the end of the third quarter and led 76-64 headed to the final period.

The Lakers held on to their double figure lead until the 3:43 mark of the fourth quarter where Trey Johnson hit a 20-foot jumper to cut L.A.’s lead to eight. From there, the Kings kept chipping away at the lead. Nik Stauskas completed a tradition three-point play in transition, and Ray McCallum followed with a three-point shot. Just like that, the Kings were only down two with 1:24 remaining in the game.

Down the stretch, McCallum hit an 18-foot step back jumper to tie the game at 91 apiece. On the other end, Lin drew a foul with 10 seconds remaining. He went to the line and hit 1-of-2, giving the Lakers a 92-91 lead.

With 10 seconds left, the Kings called a timeout to set things up from midcourt. The ball was inbounded to McCallum who missed a three-point shot, but Reggie Evans grabbed the offensive rebound, tossed a shot in the air, air balled it, but McCallum caught the ball in midair and directed it into the rim right at the buzzer to win the game for the Kings.

Just like the game against the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers missed key costless throws that cost them the game. Jeremy Lin led the way for L.A. with 19 points and seven assists in 32 minutes. Ed Davis recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting. Julius Randle and Robert Sacre had 12 points apiece. Randle also added nine rebounds.

The Kings were led by DeMarcus Cousins who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Derrick Williams put in 16 points off the bench, while Ramon Sessions scored 13. The energizer bunny, Reggie Evans had zero points but 16 rebounds, seven coming on the offensive glass.

Late in the game, two more players left the court after a horrific collision. Wayne Ellington and Ben McLemore bumped heads. Ellington looked dazed as he suffered a concussion, and McLemore came out with a huge cut under his eye, as blood was gushing out while he was headed to the locker rooms.

The Lakers finished the preseason with a 3-5 record, while the Kings finished with a 3-4 record.

As final roster cuts loom, the Lakers are likely to head into the season with 15 players after they release Roscoe Smith and Jabari Brown. The Kings currently have 15 players but may cut one more before the start of the season.

The Lakers’ regular season begins on October 28 as they will face off against Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets. The Kings tip off their season against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, October 29.