After the lakers began its season with two consecutive victories for the first time since 2010, LeBron James stood in front of his locker and said the key to the Lakers’ season would be to look, more often than not, Anthony Davis to lead the way.
“It’s very important that he be the main focal point 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 court throughout the game. And we have done it in two games.”
So, about the third game…
With the Lakers having blown a 15-point lead and the Sacramento Kings doing what they always seem to do now with the Lakers, James reminded everyone that he can be a focal point too.
In four minutes of near-perfect basketball from the 39-year-old Lakers star, he scored 14 points and assisted on two others. The run, which came during a 21-0 run early in the fourth quarter, pushed the Lakers to another victory, this time. 131-127 on the Kings.
James finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and his play early in the fourth quarter put the Lakers in position to beat the Kings for the first time since Jan. 7, 2023.
Read more: Dominant Anthony Davis helps Lakers overcome 22-point deficit to defeat Suns
And the other focal point, Davis, shut them down.
With Sacramento retreating from 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 3-pointer and a split shot to the free throw line, his only miss in the fourth quarter of a 31-point night.
Davis and James combined to make all 11 of their shots in the fourth quarter, combining to score 30 points in the quarter.
All five starters finished in double figures with Rui Hachimura scoring 18 and 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 significant levels. Still, he had been encouraged by the Lakers’ low turnover rates.
Then on Saturday, the Lakers fumbled him 19 times, leading to 25 Sacramento points.
But just as they did in their wins against Western contenders Minnesota and Phoenix, the Lakers found other ways to tilt things in their favor.
On Saturday, they grabbed 13 more rebounds than the Kings and finished with four more shots despite turning 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 simply better.
The Lakers now embark on a five-game road trip that begins Monday in Phoenix with stops in Cleveland, Toronto, Detroit and Memphis before returning to Los Angeles.
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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
