The Los Angeles Lakers looked dominant in their first win of the 2025-26 season against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but they faced an uphill battle as they traveled north for a back-to-back set.
Sunday night the Lakers drew the Sacramento Kings, a team with starry names but a roster that might find it difficult to compete in a loaded Western Conference. Los Angeles has been without LeBron James to start the season, but the team found themselves even more shorthanded when it announced that Luka Doncic would miss the game and at least a week with finger and leg injuries.
Doncic had been the engine for the Lakers’ offense, so without him and James the burden to create and score fell entirely on Austin Reaves.
Reaves has a penchant for showing up when Los Angeles needs him most, and he came through again with a massive scoring night to lift the Lakers to a 127-120 victory over Sacramento.
Reaves was given full control of the offense and he did whatever he wanted against the porous Kings defense. Reaves had everything working from his jumper, to his drives to the rim and even at the free throw line where he feasted off poor decisions from Sacramento.
The rising guard was even better in the second half, single-handedly carrying the offense and making sure the Kings couldn’t catch up. Reaves turned in one of the best games of the season so far, dropping a career-high 51 points to go along with 11 rebounds and nine assists.
While Reaves was responsible for most of the scoring, he had help in the form of Deandre Ayton who continues to look more and more comfortable in the system. Ayton was aggressive on both ends of the floor, particularly on the offensive end where he produced points with sheer effort and will.
Ayton’s size in the paint was a problem on several of the Kings’ drives, and his rebounding helped ignite several transition opportunities. This was Ayton’s best two-way performance of the season as he finished with 22 points ,15 rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
Rui Hachimura was also instrumental in the win as he was efficient with his looks from the field. Hachimura scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers won’t have any time to rest as they return home and host the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday in the second night of a back-to-back.
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