The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night at the Honda Center, although they did so extremely shorthanded with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish all sitting out of the preseason contest.
It didn’t matter though as D’Angelo Russell and the rest of the Lakers came to play, earning a 109-101 victory to improve to 2-1 halfway through the preseason.
Russell played into the third quarter for the first time this preseason, playing 21 minutes overall, and led the way with 21 points, three rebounds, eight assists, one steal and one block. Not only did he hit some big 3-pointers to help the Lakers grab momentum, but he was also finding his teammates for open looks in rhythm to get them going as well.
In addition to Russell, the Lakers had four other players in double figures. His backcourt partner Gabe Vincent was the second-leading scorer with 18, also adding a pair of assists while knocking down four of his eight 3-point attempts.
Taurean Prince, Rui Hachimura and Christian Wood all then finished with 13 points each for the Lakers. Prince had his best game of the young preseason, contributing seven rebounds and two steals while making a pair of triples.
It seems to be him and Hachimura in contention for the final starting spot, and the latter had six rebounds of his own in 26 minutes for a solid showing.
Some of the Lakers’ young guys also showed flashed in their minutes to close out the game as Max Christie and Maxwell Lewis each had seven points while Jalen Hood-Schifino, Colin Castleton and Alex Fudge all had four each.
As usual, De’Aaron Fox led the way for the Kings with 18 points, three rebounds and five assists while Harrison Barnes contributed 15 points, knocking down 3-of-6 from deep. Domantas Sabonis struggled to stay out of foul trouble but still had 10 points, 16 rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes.
Up next for the Lakers…
The Lakers still have three preseason games to play beginning with Friday night against the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers lost to the Warriors in the preseason opener at Chase Center, but they will now welcome them to Crypto.com Arena for the first game of the new season at the home arena after playing in Las Vegas and Anaheim.
L.A. will then host the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon in what is expected to be the debut of the Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard pairing. Then to close out the preseason, the Lakers will play the Phoenix Suns in Palm Springs on Thursday, Oct. 19.
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