After getting a few days off due to the Emirates NBA Cup, the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the court on Thursday evening when they took on the Sacramento Kings in the first of two straight games.
The Kings have had the Lakers’ numbers in recent years but not this season as L.A. picked up a 113-100 victory to improve to 2-0 against their division rivals so far this season. The remaining two matchups will both take place in the next week.
It was a really well-rounded win for the Lakers, who got strong performances from a variety of players on both sides of the ball. As usual, Anthony Davis led the way with some dominant two-way play.
Davis did not shoot the ball well, going just 7-of-20 from the field, but he still finished with 21 points to go along with 20 rebounds, four assists, three steals and six blocks. It was a season-high in both rebounds and blocks for the big man, who has been battling through a shoulder stinger.
It just goes to show how dominant of a player Davis is that he can not shoot well but still have the biggest impact on the game.
On the offensive end, Davis got some help from Austin Reaves, who poured in a team-high 25 points with five rebounds, five assists and three steals on 7-of-14 shooting. The Lakers are undefeated this season when Reaves scores at least 25.
Similar to Davis, LeBron James did not shoot the ball well at just 8-of-21 from the field but he still had 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists. He also had some big defensive players to help secure the win.
The Lakers’ bench backcourt duo of D’Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent both made big contributions as well. Russell finished with 16 points and six rebounds while Vincent had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
With those two coming off the bench, Max Christie has gotten a chance in the starting lineup and is making the most of it. He didn’t have eye-popping numbers with eight points but played stellar defense on De’Aaron Fox, who had 26 points but struggled to get there in the Kings loss.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers have another matchup with the Kings on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT before returning home and hosting the Detroit Pistons on Monday night. They will then head back up north for a big Christmas Day game with the Golden State Warriors.
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