SACRAMENTO — The Lakers, who have statistically had the league’s third-best best defense over the last 1½ weeks entering Thursday, knew they would be tested in their consecutive matchups against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center.
They passed the first leg of the exam, beating the Kings, 113-100, on Thursday night in the first of two matchups over three days in Sacramento.
They’ll square off again on Saturday afternoon.
“This might be my favorite win we’ve had all season,” first-year Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Just because we weren’t efficient offensively, but because of our crashing, because we limited them in transition, limited them to one shot, all of the things that we’ve preached that give yourself a chance to win every night if you have an off shooting night and an off offensive night, we did.”
On a night when their offense struggled after a 37-point first quarter to take a nine-point lead going into the second, it was the Lakers’ ability to win around the margins that gave them their third win in their last four games.
“Our defense stood out the most,” LeBron James said. “When you shoot 40% on the road, a couple factors that have to happen: you can’t turn the ball over and you gotta get stops. And we did that throughout the course of the game.”
The Lakers (15-12) grabbed nine more offensive rebounds (13-4) than the Kings, giving them an 18-6 edge in second-chance points and a 93-82 advantage in field goal attempts in addition to the Lakers’ edge at the free-throw line. The Lakers made 25 of 30 free throws compared to 15 of 22 for the Kings (13-15).
Anthony Davis led the Lakers on the boards, grabbing six of his season-high 18 rebounds on the offensive glass to go along with 21 points, a season-high six blocked shots, four assists and three steals.
“It just shows you how elite he is as a player that he can have a 7-for-20 night and still dominate a basketball game,” Redick said.
The Lakers scored 24 points off of the Kings’ 17 turnovers, taking advantage of being disruptive on the defensive end of the floor after shooting just 40.4% from the field (38 for 94).
“Defensively, the No. 1 thing is about all being accountable and holding your guy,” said James, who had 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds. “Understanding that don’t just let blow-bys happen or whatever the case may be, but also being on a string with the other four guys on the floor. And it starts with communication. We’ve been communicating at a high (level) over the last four games. And we’re gonna need to continue that.”
Austin Reaves led the Lakers in scoring with 25 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go with five assists and five rebounds.
The Kings closed to within 93-90 on De’Aaron Fox’s jumper with eight minutes remaining. Reaves’ short bank shot and two free throws from Davis sparked a 10-2 run that helped the Lakers pull away.
Reaves knocked down a 3-pointer off an assist from James to finish that surge and put them ahead 103-92 with just over four minutes left in the game.
The Lakers led by at least double figures for the rest of the night.
D’Angelo Russell (16 points, six rebounds) and Gabe Vincent (12 points, five rebounds, three assists) made significant contributions off the bench.
Max Christie had eight points, four rebounds (three offensive) and two steals. Vincent also had a pair of offensive boards.
“It’s a team game and I think everyone chipped in,” Davis said. “Whether it’s on the stat sheet or not. Gabe, 4 for 5 from 3, which we needed. D-Lo came in and just changed the game with his energy and effort. Cam [Reddish] coming in and changes the game. Max Christie is always doing what he does on both ends of the floor, making shots and being disruptive. And then me, Bron and AR just kind of do what we do. But everybody had their hand in this game and we’re going to continue to need that.”
Fox had 26 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals to lead Sacramento. Domantas Sabonis added 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, and Malik Monk had 17 points.
James broke the record for the most NBA regular-season minutes played during his 10th minute of Thursday’s game early in the second quarter. His 34 minutes put him at 57,471 career regular-season minutes, above Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (57,446), who held the record for more than 38 years.
“It’s a pretty cool honor, obviously, anytime I’m linked that with some of the greats that have ever played this game,” James said. “I’ve been available to my teammates. I’ve been able to do this at a high level over two decades. And to continue to put myself in record books in this game of basketball that I love so much and in the best league in the world is pretty cool and it’s very humbling.”
Davis fell hard to the floor in the fourth quarter and stayed down for several moments before getting up and limping heavily. The All-Star big man, who has been dealing with left plantar fasciitis, stayed in the game and immediately made a big defensive stop.
