The Los Angeles Lakers ended a stretch during which they played just two games in 10 games when they headed north to take on the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. The Kings came in with a 13-14 record, but the thinking seemed to be that they were a much more dangerous team than their record would suggest.
But the Lakers took care of business against a team that had a worse record than them. They came out roaring to a 15-2 lead, and they withstood a run that trimmed their lead to three points and ended the first quarter up 37-28. Former Laker Malik Monk ignited a second-quarter run that gave Sacramento the lead, but Los Angeles recovered enough to be ahead by four at halftime.
After that, L.A. held off a couple of attempts by the Kings to make things more competitive and gradually build up a lead it wouldn’t relinquish, giving it a 113-100 victory. It now has a 15-12 record and is in seventh place in the Western Conference
The Lakers outrebounded the Kings 52-43, and for a change, they outscored their opponents in second-chance points. They had 18 second-chance points to six by Sacramento, and that overall effort on the boards was a big reversal from what has transpired in that department for them for quite some time. Los Angeles also managed to score 22 points off of 15 Sacramento turnovers.
The team also seems to be staging a revival on the defensive end. It was the third time in four games it held its opponent to 100 or fewer points, and it has allowed no more than 110 points eight times in its last 10 games.
It will play Sacramento again in Northern California on Saturday before returning to Crypto.com Arena for a contest versus the Detroit Pistons on Monday.
Anthony Davis: B-plus
This wasn’t a great night offensively for Davis. He shot just 7-of-20 from the field and scored a modest 21 points, but he more than made up for that in other categories.
He fought hard on the boards on both ends of the floor all game long, which resulted in a season-high 18 rebounds, six of them coming on the offensive glass. He also blocked six shots and added four assists and three steals, and he did all that despite seemingly re-aggravating his shoulder ailment and then tweaking his ankle late in the game.
Last season, Kings center Domantas Sabonis seemed to eat him alive head-to-head. But tonight, Sabonis had a quiet 18 points and didn’t quite impose his will on Davis offensively in the paint. Instead, it was Davis throwing his weight around near the basket, whether he did so while snatching rebounds or getting buckets.
Rui Hachimura: D-plus/C-minus
Hachimura was aggressive enough with nine shot attempts, but only three of them went through the hoop. He finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists while committing four turnovers.
Max Christie: B-minus
Christie scored eight points in 28 minutes, with five of those points coming on free throws. He did a good job of hustling for offensive boards and ended up with three of them and four total rebounds.
Defensively, he did a good job of covering De’Aaron Fox. Fox has killed the Lakers several times in the past, but tonight, with Christie’s help, he was held to 7-of-17 field-goal shooting and was in foul trouble a good amount of the time. Christie could be starting to come into his own a bit as someone who can contribute in a satisfactory manner on both ends of the court.
Austin Reaves: A
Reaves scored the Lakers’ first points of the game on a 3-pointer, and early on, it looked like it would be a good night for him. That’s exactly how this game unfolded for him. The undrafted guard attacked off the dribble early and often, which resulted in him going 7-of-14 from the field, 3-of-7 from 3-point range and 8-of-9 from the free throw line to score 25 points. He also dished off five assists and added five rebounds and three steals.
LeBron James: C
James shot just 8-of-21 from the field in his second game back from his two-game absence due to foot soreness. He scored 19 points and had seven assists and six rebounds as he mostly looked to set up his teammates off of dribble penetration.
A good sign for him was the fact that he only committed two turnovers. It was the first time since Nov. 8 he had as few as two turnovers in an entire game.
It was also a good sign that the Lakers have now won back-to-back games even though he shot a combined 15-of-38 in those games.
D’Angelo Russell: B-plus/A-minus
Russell had only one assist, but he was pretty warm offensively. He went 7-of-15 overall, giving him 16 points in 23 minutes, and felt comfortable launching his outside shot on a consistent basis. He was even tied for second on the Lakers with six rebounds and didn’t commit a single turnover.
Gabe Vincent: A
The Vincent that showed up on Thursday is the Vincent the Lakers need as long as he’s on their roster. He went 4-of-5 from the field, and all of those shot attempts were 3-pointers, giving him 12 points on the night. He hustled for rebounds and loose balls and ended up with five boards plus three assists.
Dalton Knecht: D-minus
Knecht’s offensive confidence seems to be at a low point right now. Perhaps he has hit the proverbial rookie wall, or perhaps he’s just in a slump.
He shot 1-of-4 on Thursday and missed both of his attempts from downtown. He finished with two points and one rebound in 10 minutes.
Cam Reddish: D-minus
Reddish knocked the ball loose on defense late in the game to force a turnover in the backcourt, but other than that, he was ineffective. He missed his lone shot attempt and made no statistical contributions.
Christian Koloko: Incomplete
In four minutes, Koloko had one rebound and one blocked shot.
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