Back-to-backs in the NBA can be tricky.
With fatigue an even more significant factor than usual, it isn’t always clear the type of energy or focus a team will come with when playing on consecutive days.
But the Lakers established early on in their 128-104 win over the Kings on Sunday night that they weren’t taking the league-worst Kings lightly.
Marcus Smart made one of his signature hustle plays early, diving for a loose ball multiple times on a possession that ended with an Austin Reaves alley-oop to LeBron James to loud cheers from the crowd at Crypto.com Arena to give the Lakers an early 10-2 lead.
“Smart’s defense just totally ignited us at different points in the game,” coach JJ Redick said. “He ended up with five steals, but he was diving on the floor for loose balls. He’s starting transition plays for us. He was another igniter for us.”
It wasn’t always smooth sailing.
And the Lakers weren’t always in control.
But they once again took care of business a little over 24 hours after being the Warriors in San Francisco.
Luka Doncic led the way with 28 points, nine assists and five rebounds. LeBron James finished with 24 points and five assists.
Deandre Ayton made all six of his field goal attempts finishing with 12 points.
Smart finished with five steals to go with nine points and three assists.
What it means
The Lakers bounced back from their three-game losing streak with back-to-back blowout victories after beating the short-handed Warriors by 28 on Saturday night.
Yes, both were games the Lakers should’ve won.
But in the tight race among Nos. 3-7 in the Western Conference standings, winning is all that matters at this point of the season.
The Lakers improved to 36-24, including 23-7 against teams below .500.
Turning point
When Doncic hit a fadeaway 3-point to put the Lakers up 89-65 late in the third quarter after losing control of the ball.
“It was on purpose,” Doncic quipped. “I tripped on purpose and it was, how do you say, the And-1 Mixtape, that’s what they said on the bench. So, I did it on purpose.”
The Kings were feisty in the second quarter, which they won 31-28, and to start the third.
But when Doncic knocked that shot down, it was clear Sunday night was going to go in the Lakers’ favor.
MVP: Luka Doncic
When the Lakers needed a spark, their best player provided it.
“Luka did great job of getting us going,” Redick said.
Doncic scored or assisted on 16 points for the Lakers during the 21-9 run they went on after the Kings cut their lead to 70-60.
And Doncic was directly involved in the Lakers scoring on a few of those plays he didn’t score or record an assist, like when Marcus Smart made a corner 3-pointer that Austin Reaves assisted him on to put the Lakers up 74-60 after the Kings trapped Doncic in the pick and roll.
Key stat of game: 18
That was the number of 3s the Lakers made, one night after making a season-high-tying 19 in the win over the Warriors.
Doncic led the team with four, while James, Smart and Luke Kennard each made three apiece.
Up next
The Lakers will face another one of the league’s worst teams on Tuesday when they host the Pelicans.
The Pelicans, who are 19-43 on the season, had their four-game winning streak ended by the Clippers on Sunday at Intuit Dome.
