Off to the franchise’s first 2-0 begin because the 2010-11 season, the Los Angeles Lakers host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday for the second leg of a weekend back-to-back.
The Lakers rallied from a 22-point first-half deficit on Friday behind 35 factors from Anthony Davis, 26 factors and eight assists from Austin Reaves, and LeBron James’ 21 factors and eight assists, beating Phoenix, 123-116.
Davis joined Jerry West and Elgin Baylor as Lakers to attain 35-plus factors in every of a season’s first two video games. Davis completed with 36 factors and 16 rebounds in Los Angeles’ 110-103, season-opening win over Minnesota on Tuesday.
Davis credited his sturdy begin partially to first-year head coach JJ Redick’s offensive technique, which is constructed round feeding the veteran massive man within the publish.
“I do know coach needs to get me the ball early to have the ability to assist with the offense. I am simply attempting to make my shot, make big-time performs,” Davis mentioned in his postgame interview with ESPN. “I really feel nice, simply wish to maintain carrying it over all season.”
The Lakers now look to hold over their finest begin in 14 years right into a matchup with an opponent that swept them a season in the past. Sacramento took all 4 matchups with Los Angeles within the 2023-24 marketing campaign, together with two wherein the Kings restricted Davis to 9 and 14 factors.
Sacramento returns to motion on Saturday after it dropped a 117-115 heartbreaker to Minnesota within the Kings’ season opener on Thursday. Malik Monk, who scored 17 factors off the bench, gave the Kings a 115-114 lead when he transformed a three-point play within the closing minute.
Nonetheless, Minnesota drained three free throws down the stretch, together with a pair after De’Aaron Fox missed a would-be, go-ahead jumper.
Fox, Sacramento’s main scorer a season in the past with 26.6 factors per recreation, completed with 15 factors on 6-of-14 capturing from the ground within the season-opening loss. He remained a key a part of the offense towards Minnesota, nonetheless, shelling out 11 assists.
The sport towards Minnesota was Sacramento’s first with a new-look beginning lineup after the offseason addition of three-time All-NBA choice DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan scored a team-high 26 factors in his Kings debut, however shot 7-of-18 from the ground. He was 0-for-2 from 3-point vary as Sacramento tried 29 photographs from past the arc – 10 fewer than the crew’s 2023-24 per-game common.
“You will have one other man that instructions to the touch the ball a bit of bit extra. And you possibly can see, DeMar had some fairly beauty, particularly early on, that he turned down,” Kings coach Mike Brown mentioned in his postgame press convention.
“His recreation is the mid-range,” Brown mentioned. “He is an elite mid-range man.”
Domantas Sabonis scored 24 factors and grabbed eight rebounds. Sabonis set a post-ABA merger league report with 61 consecutive double-doubles final season.
Keegan Murray, in the meantime, delivered a double-double of 23 factors and 11 rebounds in Thursday’s loss. Murray shot 5-of-10 from 3-point vary, accounting for nearly half of Sacramento’s 11 made 3-pointers as a crew.
–Subject Stage Media
