LOS ANGELES — Three days after their Christmas Day game thriller, the Lakers returned home with an ailing LeBron James, who was still feeling under the weather and did not play Saturday against the Sacramento Kings.
It was James’ third missed game of the season.
That left the Lakers to face a team in turbulence following the firing of the coach.
The Sacramento Kings dismissed Mike Brown on Friday after two-plus seasons and promoted Doug Christie to interim coach after the team floundered in the Western Conference standings.
Lakers coach JJ Redick suspected the unexpected move might motivate the Kings, who were looking to kick start their season.
“There are numerous examples throughout the NBA where a player gets traded, a player gets released, the coach is fired midseason and a team has a new energy and there’s this instant sort of boost to the aura,” Redick said before the game.
We’re going into this game, we’re expecting to get their best tonight and that means their energy, that means the way they’re pushing the basketball, that means the way they’re flying around on offensive defense.”
He was right in a way. The Kings didn’t let the previous day’s drama affect their play, pushing the Lakers for two-plus quarters or until Anthony Davis got going and led the Lakers to a 132-122 victory over the Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
The nine-time All-Star went off for 36 points on 12-of-16 shooting, hitting mid-range shots, connecting on lob dunks and 3-pointers. He also made 11 of 13 free throws and had 15 rebounds.
Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura combined for 47 points to lead the Lakers to a season sweep of the Kings and their fifth victory in six games. Reaves had a career-high 16 assists, eclipsing his previous best of 14, and had six rebounds.
But all that nearly went to waste as the Kings found an extra ounce of motivation in the fourth quarter, trimming the Lakers’ 17-point lead down to seven, 115-108.
The Kings made one more push down the stretch, closing to within eight, 130-122, but couldn’t overcome the Lakers’ sharpshooting. The Lakers shot 59.7% from the field and 53.8% from 3-point range.
After a tight first half, the Lakers eventually subdued the Kings, starting with a 10-2 run in the third quarter to take an 86-78 lead and then extending their lead to 90-80 on a reverse layup by D’Angelo Russell.
Russell (left thumb sprain) was one of a handful of players who were either doubtful or questionable coming into the game. Davis (left ankle) and Hachimura (illness) played, but Jaxson Hayes, who has played just once since Nov. 10 because of consecutive injuries to his right ankle, was available but did not get off the bench.
The Lakers didn’t let up, running off nine consecutive points to finish off a 42-point third quarter as the Kings struggled to make shots.
De’Aaron Fox made just one of his nine 3-point attempts but still finished with 29 points and 12 assists. Demar DeRozan led the Kings with 25 points, six rebounds and seven assists, and Malik Monk added 20 points.
The Kings, who had lost five in a row entering Saturday’s game, got rolling in the first half to overcome an 11-point deficit and lead, 66-65, at intermission.
Fox scored the final four points of the half, on a putback off a steal and a pair of free throws and assisted on another basket to pull the Kings ahead with 13 seconds remaining before halftime. He scored 12 points and had six assists in the opening 24 minutes.
Gabe Vincent, who started in place of James, left early in the first half with an oblique strain he suffered when Sabonis hit in coming off a hard screen.
