Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves make the LeBron-less Lakers win

The battle was coming, the Lakers and JJ Redick made sure of it.

Sacramento had been thrown into complete chaos and the Lakers took two straight from the Kings in their building last week – part of the chain of events that led to The Kings fired coach Mike Brown on the way to board the plane to LA

Beating the Kings for the fourth time this season was already going to be difficult; a jolt like a coaching change was sure to have Sacramento flying around the field like the turbo button was stuck.

The Lakers would have to respond, meet power with power and speed with speed — and do it without LeBron James, who was homesick.

But just as they found a way to Christmas with Anthony Davis out with an ankle injury, the Lakers did it again Saturday in one 132-122 winthat spoiled former Lakers player (and rival) Doug Christie’s first game as the Kings’ interim coach.

Austin Reaves, who hit the game-winning shot against the Warriors on Christmas, orchestrated the offense with James out, scoring 26 and dishing out a career-high 16 assists. Davis, back on the floor after just seven minutes Wednesday, dominated his matchup with Domantas Sabonis, scoring 36 (on just 16 shots) with 15 rebounds and eight assists. And Rui Hachimura needed just 11 shots to score his 21 points while giving the Lakers the kind of physicality and activity on the wing they need on both sides of the basketball.

Sabonis scored 14 points before fouling out in 26 minutes. De’Aaron Fox had 29 points and 12 assists and DeMar DeRozan finished with 25 points for the Kings (13-19).

The Lakers (18-13) led by as many as 20 after a dominant third quarter in which they outscored the Kings 42-24.

The Lakers’ 59.7% shooting from the field and their 53.8% three-point shooting were season highs.

In addition to no real concern for James and his illness, more help is coming.

Jaxson Hayes, who has missed the last 14 games with a sprained ankle, is set to return Tuesday against first-place Cleveland.