after the Lakers started their season with two straight wins for the first time since 2010, LeBron James stood in front of his locker and said the key to the Lakers’ season will be looking, more often than not, for Anthony Davis lead the way
“It’s very important that he’s the main focus for us every night,” James said defiantly on Friday. “We know what he’s going to do defensively, but offensively we have to find him in multiple spots on the floor throughout the game. And we did that over two games.”
So about game three…
With the Lakers completely blowing a 15-point lead and the Sacramento Kings doing what they always seem to do to the Lakers, James reminded everyone that he too can be a focal point.
In four minutes of near-perfect basketball from the 39-year-old star of the Lakers, he scored 14 points and assisted on another two. The stretch, which came on a 21-0 run to start the fourth quarter, pushed the Lakers to yet another victory, this time. 131-127 over the Kings.
James finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, his play early in the fourth quarter putting the Lakers in position to beat the Kings for the first time since January 7, 2023.
Read more: Dominating Anthony Davis helps Lakers erase 22-point deficit to beat Suns
And the other focus, Davis, he shut them down.
With Sacramento pushing back to the James-led run, Davis re-entered the game and continued his early-season dominance. He attacked Domantas Sabonis at the rim and iced the game with a three-pointer and a breakaway trip to the free throw line, his only miss of the fourth quarter of a 31-point night.
Davis and James combined to make all 11 of their fourth quarter shots, combining to score 30 points in the quarter.
All five starters finished in double figures with Rui Hachimura scoring 18 to go with nine rebounds, Austin Reaves adding 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and D’Angelo Russell contributing 16 points and five assists.
Before the game, Lakers coach JJ Redick acknowledged that early season sample sizes have not come close to reaching meaningful levels. However, he was encouraged by the low taxes of the Lakers.
Then on Saturday, the Lakers coughed it up 19 times leading to 25 Sacramento points.
But as they did in wins against West contenders Minnesota and Phoenix, the Lakers found other ways to turn things to their advantage.
On Saturday, they grabbed 13 more rebounds than the Kings and finished with four more shots despite turning it over five more times than Sacramento.
And while Sabonis had a triple-double with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and De’Aaron Fox had 28 and 10 assists, the Lakers’ stars were just better.
The Lakers now go on a five-game road trip starting Monday in Phoenix with stops in Cleveland, Toronto, Detroit and Memphis before returning to Los Angeles.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
