Lakers vs Kings Final Score: Defense, Rebounding Leads Lakers to Win

The Lakers dominated the glass with 15 offensive rebounds, led by 20 from Anthony Davis, to pick up a big 113-100 victory over the Kings on Thursday.

Anthony Davis passed Serge Ikaba to become 30th all-time in blocks. While he struggled to shoot the ball, he still had 21 points with a season-high 20 rebounds, while also adding six blocks, four assists and three steals.

Austin Reaves had another great game, scoring 25 points with five rebounds and five assists. LeBron James made history, moving to the first ever minutes played in NBA history. He also joined the 10,000 Lakers point club. He finished with 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

Gabe Vincent had an excellent showing off the bench, going 4-5 from behind the arc and finishing with 12 points. D’Angelo Russell chipped in with 16 points and six rebounds.

The Lakers started the game red hot offensively. Austin and LeBron both made 3-pointers, and everyone except Rui Hachimura scored. At the first timeout, LA was up by nine. After LA extended their lead to 13, Sacramento began to heat up.

Domantas Sabonis and Kevin Huerter, who both like to shoot the lights out against the Lakers, made 3-pointers. It was a three-point game with 4:12 left in the quarter.

Gabe knocked down a 3-pointer to stop some of the bleeding. AD was extra active and tried to give the Lakers more opportunities by diving for loose balls and rebounds. At the end of the first, the Lakers were up by nine.

The second quarter began with a 3-pointer by Huerter. Dalton Knecht answered with a fastbreak layup.

Sacramento started to heat up again. With 7:01 left in the half, the Lakers were nursing a 3-point lead. Austin was the first Laker in double figures with 10 points.

A layup by Sabonis and a 3-pointer by former Laker Malik Monk put the Kings up by two. D’Lo drained his own three to put the Lakers up by one. Malik hit back with another 3-pointer, forcing the Lakers to call a timeout. Sacramento was up to 50% shooting while the Lakers shot 39%.

Malik shined against his former team. He threw down a ferocious dunk to extend the lead to five. Both teams played with a bit of spice. Fortunately for LA, their offense kept them in the game. Gabe drained his third 3-pointer.

At the break, LA were ahead by four.

In the second half, the Kings took the lead on two consecutive 3-pointers by De’Aaron Fox and Malik. Fortunately for the Lakers, Fox picked up his fifth foul of the game. The Lakers missed a few good shots, but still managed to tie the game.

AD’s offensive game was a little rough, but his defense was excellent as he was up to six blocks.

Both teams started trading baskets and kept tying the game, making it a hard fought game. The Lakers jumped ahead by four to force the Kings to take a timeout. LeBron had one of his signature chase-down blocks and then took it coast-to-coast for a layup at the other end.

The lead went up to seven for the Lakers before Keegan Murray knocked down a 3-pointer. LA finally finished a quarter successfully and went up by six.

The final frame started with the Lakers up by nine. Gabe once again drained a 3-pointer. But LA couldn’t hold on to their big lead for long as the Kings cut the deficit to within two.

Both teams fought extra hard, especially defensively. With six minutes left in the game, the Lakers were up by five. The atmosphere was very testing, each team playing with a chip on their shoulder, despite a few missed shots.

A 3-pointer from Austin added to the lead for LA, making it 11. Sacramento began to take desperate shots. Fox made another three, but their shots didn’t look good.

After another big 3-pointer from Reaves late, Sacramento waved the white flag, emptied their bench and waved the white flag.

Key takeaways:

Austin must keep his headband on permanently. It may have some magical powers.

AD’s defense is the Lakers’ lifeline. He’s giving this Lakers team a chance.

Max has been steadily improving after such a poor start to the season. Not only does he look comfortable with his shot, but his defense has also been suffocating.

Gabe has also improved by leaps and bounds. His shot looks a lot better and he’s done so much of the dirty work every game, giving the Lakers a lot of opportunities to score.

The Lakers’ next game will be Saturday against the Sacramento Kings at 3:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.